Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The management of patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI) and possible subclinical hypercortisolism (SH) is debated. This randomized study was aimed to evaluate the effects of adrenalectomy on arterial hypertension (AH).Methods: We consecutively evaluated 590 AI patients (referred to 3 Italian Centres between 06/2016 and 12/2019). Among these, 134 patients showed a possible SH (i.e. 1 mg DST between 1.8 and 5 µg/dl). Based on the excl...

IntroductionThe management of patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI) and mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) is debated. This randomized study aimed to evaluate the effects of adrenalectomy on arterial hypertension (AH), glucose and lipid metabolism.MethodsWe consecutively evaluated 626 AI patients (referred to 3 Italian Centers between 06/2016 and 02/2020). According to the inclusion criteria, we enr...

IntroductionIrisin is a molecule secreted from skeletal muscle and contributes to maintenance of metabolic homeostasis leading to increased energy expenditure and reducing the risk of obesity and diabetes. Literature data suggest that patients with Cushing disease have lower irisin values than controls and remission of hypercortisolism increases these values. Moreover, other plasma inflammation markers implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, i...

Introduction: Primary bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (PBMAH) is a rare cause of Cushing’s syndrome (CS). Some familial forms have been associated to gene ARMC5 (Armadillo repeat-containing protein 5) inactivating mutations. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and the complications of ARMC5 mutations in our cohort of patients with bilateral adrenal incidentalomas (BAI).Methods: 72 patients, referred to our Center...

The cytoskeletal actin-binding protein filamin A (FLNA) is poorly expressed in adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) compared to adenomas (ACA), and this might contribute to sustain the increased cell proliferation by downregulating IGF1R expression and its downstream signaling. In mouse neural progenitor cells, increased protein expression levels of the CDK1 kinase Wee1 have been found after loss of FLNA. This protein has a leading role in regulating the G2-M checkpoint and functio...

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) are rare endocrine tumors that originate in the cortex of the adrenal gland. They are characterized by the overexpression of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), whose bond with two tyrosine-kinase receptors, IGF1R and IR, activates a cancer-promoting signalling cascade. Another component of the IGF system is mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R), a scavenger receptor able to bind specifically IGF2. Its main role is t...

The majority of adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) overexpress insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). Although IGF2 drives a proliferative autocrine loop by binding to IGF1R and the isoform A of the insulin receptor (IRA), most studies focused on IGF1R. Recently, a high expression of IRA was observed in ACC vs normal adrenal tissues (NA), suggesting its potential involvement in modulating IGF2 effects in adrenocortical tumorigenesis. Aim of this study was to investigate the specifi...

Background: COVID-19 represents a global health emergency and infected patients with chronic diseases often present a severe impairment. Adrenal insufficiency (AI) is supposed to be associated with an increased risk of infections which could trigger adrenal crisis. Our primary aim was to evaluate the incidence of COVID-19 symptoms and complications in AI patients.Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study, in 279 patients with...