Endocrine Abstracts

Human bladder contraction mainly depends on Ca2+ influx, via L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, and on RhoA/Rho-kinase contractile signalling, a pathway up-regulated in overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome. Elocalcitol (Elo) is a vitamin D receptor agonist inhibiting RhoA/Rho-kinase signalling in rat and human bladder, shown to ameliorate OAB symptoms in a clinical study. Since in normal bladder from Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats Elo treatment delayed the c...

Thyroid hormones (TH) play a fundamental role during brain development by modulating the expression of different genes involved in neuronal differentiation, proliferation, migration, myelinization, and synapse formation. Seladin-1 (for SELective Alzheimer’s Disease INdicator-1) is a recently identified anti-apoptotic gene, which has been found to be down-regulated in brain regions affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We hypothesized that seladin-1 might be a ...

White adipose tissue acts as an endocrine organ that secretes a variety of adipokines and coordinates a number of biological processes such as energy homeostasis, neuroendocrine and immune functions. Recent studies demonstrated that abundant adipose tissue depots (particularly visceral adipose tissue), by producing inflammatory cytokines, contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation processes which may underlie the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders such as obesity, atheroscl...