Endocrine Abstracts

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of several neoplasias and the IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) may have a role as autocrine/paracrine factors in regulating the local actions of the IGFs. In the present study we investigated IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3 production in cultured media from three human lung cancer cell lines (Calu-3, Calu-6, A549) and in human neoplastic and normal lung tissue samples obtained at surgery fr...

Background: Acromegaly is a severe systemic condition characterized by elevated circulating levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and increased mortality and morbidity. The role of GH and IGF-I in mammary hyperplasia is well established and GH/IGF-I elevation has been hypothesized to favor neoplastic development. We recently demonstrated that premenopausal females with active acromegaly may display an increased mammographic breast density (MBD)...

Cushing’s Disease (CD) is severe clinical condition due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor. Here we present the case of a 25-years old male who came to our attention for hypertension, moon face, acanthosis nigricans, abdominal purple striae and central obesity. The diagnosis of CD was based on the presence of high plasma cortisol after dexamethasone suppression test and elevated urinary free cortisol levels (UFC, 6-fold higher the upper limit of normality (ULN)). The pi...

Background: The response to first-generation long-acting somatostatin analogues (LA-SSA) treatment in acromegaly depends on the expression of the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) subtypes. In contrast to octreotide and lanreotide which preferentially bind to SSTR2, pasireotide targets multiple SSTRs, with the highest binding affinity for SSTR5. It has previously been suggested that SSTR5 expression could predict the response to pasireotide LAR (PAS-LAR) treatment in acromegaly.</p...

Somatostatin (SRIF) is an inhibitory hormone that plays a regulatory role in several cell functions including cell proliferation. SRIF acts through five specific membrane receptors (sst1-5), expressed on SRIF-target cells. SRIF and ssts may play a significant role in the progression and neuroendocrine differentiation of human prostate cancer (PCa). However, conflicting results have been reported in the literature on ssts heterogeneity and specific cell localization in PCa. Aim...

During the spring of 2020, a national lockdown was adopted in Italy to prevent COVID-19 pandemic spread. Restrictive measures have been associated with impaired psychological outcome in the general population. As patients with Cushing’s Syndrome (CS), including Cushing’s disease (CD), adrenal CS (ACS), and ectopic CS (ECS), are reportedly associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety, stress susceptibility, depression, and maniac episodes, during both active disease...

Over the last two years, COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown have exerted a remarkable psychological burden in the general population. Such an impact is supposed to be even worse in acromegaly, known to induce a severe psychological impairment due to its somatic disfigurements and systemic comorbidities. The current observational study aimed at investigating the impact of COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown on psychological health in acromegalic patients as compared to non-acromegalic h...

Osteopathy is an emerging complication of acromegaly, characterized by increased bone turnover, profound abnormalities in trabecular bone structure and high risk of vertebral fractures (VFs). The therapeutic management of skeletal fragility in acromegaly is a challenge, since the risk of fractures may remain high after the control of acromegaly and the effectiveness of bone-active drugs in this clinical setting is unknown. In this retrospective-multicenter study, we aimed at e...