Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The impact of first-line somatostatin analogues (SSA) on glucose tolerance in acromegaly was investigated during a 10 year period.Patients: One hundred and twelve patients treated with depot SSA.Outcome measures: Primary outcome measures were fasting glucose levels. Data were analyzed according with baseline glucose tolerance and disease control.Results after 12 months SSA treatment: In the 63 pati...

Elevated insulin levels are correlated with colonic adenomas and carcinomas in the general population. Patients with acromegaly are considered at high risk to develop colonic lesions and have a high insulin levels. To evaluate the role of insulin levels on colonic polyps (hyperplastic, adenomatous, single or synchronous) or adenocarcinoma in acromegaly we designed this analytical, observational, open, prospective, study enrolling 189 patients (100 women, 89 men, age 20–82...

The most frequent cause of death in acromegaly is cardiomyopathy. To evaluate determinants of the acromegalic cardiomyopathy we performed an analytical, observational, open, prospective, controlled study in 205 patients with active acromegaly (108 women and 97 men) and 205 non-acromegalic subjects sex- and age-matched with the patients. We determined the prevalence of Left Ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH), diastolic and systolic dysfunction, by echocardiography- measured LV ...

The first-line treatment of Cushing’s disease is surgery, although it is effective in inducing a long-term remission in around 50% of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). Nowadays, no pituitary tumor-directed medical treatment is available with the exception of cabergoline, which has been recently demonstrated to control cortisol secretion without major side effects in around 40% of patients with Cushing’s disease. Cabergoline has been recently demonstrated to ...

Acromegaly is known to be associated to an increased cardiovascular risk, due to the increased prevalence of glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia and pre-atherosclerotic lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment with the GH receptor antagonist pegvisomant on cardiovascular risk and atherosclerosis in patients with acromegaly resistant to somatostatin analogues. Twelve patients (4 m, 8 f, 28–58 yrs) and 24 sex-, age- and BMI-matched controls en...

Dopamine agonists have been used as first or adjunctive therapy for acromegaly for many years, but relatively few studies have assessed the efficacy of a newer agonist, cabergoline (CAB) alone or in combination with somatostatin analogues (SSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combined treatment with SSA plus CAB in patients with acromegaly and resistance to SSA, defined as lack of normalization of IGF-I levels after long-term (>1 year) and hig...

Hyperprolactinemia is associated with abnormalities in glucose and lipid profile with development of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (MetS), which have been found to be improved by treatment with cabergoline (CAB). The current study aimed at investigating hormonal and metabolic effects of long-term CAB withdrawal in patients with prolactinomas. In 46 patients (37 F, 9 M, aged 34.5±11.5 yrs, 36 microadenomas and 10 macroadenomas) anthropometric (weight, BMI, wais...

Introduction: Environmental toxins, including those deriving from illegal and hazardous disposal of urban and chemical waste, are known to act as endocrine disruptors and to increase the risk of malignancy and cancer mortality. The present study aimed at investigating prevalence and characteristics of thyroid diseases in the area of Acerra, a town in the perimeter of the so called ‘Land of Fires’.Methods: The screening included subjects aged &#...

Dopamine has been found in both semen and oviductal fluid and dopamine receptors (DRs) have been detected in male genital tract and spermatozoa, suggesting that dopamine system may control important reproductive functions in humans. Dopamine improves sperm motility and viability in animal models, although the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate DRs expression in human spermatozoa and to evaluate the in ...

Somatostatin analogues (SA) are known to revert acromegalic cardiomyopathy mainly in young patients with short disease duration, whereas pegvisomant (PEG) reportedly improves cardiac structure and performance in patients resistant to SA. To date, no data are available on the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiovascular complications. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiac structure and performance in acromegaly. Thirty-six acromega...