Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is a rare chronic disorder caused by growth hormone hypersecretion due to GH-producing pituitary adenoma. Surgery is the first-line treatment modality. However, patients with severe cardiac involvement are high-risk candidates for pituitary surgery. These patients may benefit from rapid preoperative biochemical control of acromegaly. There is emerging evidence of efficacy of pegvisomant, a GH-receptor antagonist, (either alone or in combination with so...

Background: Prolactinomas (PRL) are pituitary adenomas mainly characterized by hyperprolactinemia. In addition to the endocrine effects of prolactin, metabolic alterations have been described in PRL patients. Changes in inflammatory parameters have recently been identified in pituitary adenoma patients. Since both, metabolic (MM) and inflammatory markers (IM) showed promising results in characterization/prognosis of tumor patients, it is tempting to speculate whether those mig...

Introduction: The differential diagnosis of sellar masses is broad and includes - apart from the most common pituitary adenomas - other neoplasms such as craniopharyngiomas, germinomas, gliomas, meningiomas, and others. Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare vascular tumor arising from pericytes that may appear at any site of the body. We report an unusual case of an intrasellar HPC.Case Report: A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining ab...

Background: Craniopharyngiomas are embryogenic malformations which lead to eating disorders and morbid obesity due to hypothalamic involvement. The experience with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) in obese craniopharyngioma patients is limited especially in regard to long-term effects and tolerability.Patients and methods: We are reporting on four patients with childhood craniopharyngioma diagnosed at age 2, 13, 12, and 20 years.<p clas...

Background/aims: Saxagliptin is a potent, selective dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, specifically designed for extended inhibition of the DPP-4 enzyme. Saxagliptin is cleared by both metabolism and renal excretion. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of renal impairment (RI) and haemodialysis (HD) on the pharmacokinetics of saxagliptin.Methods: This open-label, parallel-group study was conducted in subjects with normal renal func...

The well characterized sodium iodide symporter (NIS) in its dual function as reporter and therapy gene displays an outstanding opportunity to target different cancer types allowing non-invasive imaging of functional NIS expression and therapeutic radionuclide application. We recently reported induction of tumor-selective accumulation and therapeutic efficacy of radioiodide after systemic non-viral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted NIS gene delivery in a subcutan...

The objective of this project was to develop and characterise a simple immunoassay for the quantification of free 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OH Vit D). Recent studies suggest that the concentration and genotype of vitamin D binding protein (DBP) are important factors that determine the bioavailability of 25OH Vit D in blood. It has been suggested that measurement of free, non-protein bound 25OH Vit D in serum, may provide more relevant diagnostic information than total 25OH Vit D,...

Objectives: Sirolimus inhibits adipocyte differentiation (Yeh PNAS 1995). This study compares weight and fat markers in two groups of patients treated or not with sirolimus, before and after transplantation.Patients and method: Nineteen islet-alone transplanted patients treated with sirolimus and 7 islet-alone or liver-transplanted patients NOT treated with sirolimus were compared 1 year after transplantation in terms of weight, fat mass (equation of bod...

Background: We have previously shown that a higher BMI and less favorable body composition are associated with relatively higher FT3 levels (within the euthyroid range) in healthy young men. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether FT3 and the ratio FT3:FT4 are also associated with cardiovascular markers in a healthy euthyroid population of middle-aged men and women.Methods: Thyroid parameters were measur...

Objective: Neurotensin is an anorexigenic peptide produced mainly in the N-cells of the ileum; levels are decreased in obese subjects and increase after bariatric surgery. This study is the first to compare the baseline and postoperative levels of neurotensin in patients after gastric bypass, gastric banding, and non-operated controls, respectively, during long-term follow-up.Patients and Methods: Overnight fasting plasma neurotensin levels were measured...