Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumor with poor prognosis due to its highly malignant phenotype and lack of effective treatment options.The etiology of ACC is still unknown. To better understand the pathogenesis of this type of tumor and to determine differentially abundant proteins and candidate biomarkers for adrenal cancer diagnosis and prognosis, we used a novel approach based on two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE). Pr...

Serotonergic transmission is involved in eating behaviour and body weight control. Comparison of SERT properties in blood platelets and serotonergic synaptosomes suggests that the human platelet can serve as an appropriate model for the transport, metabolism and release of serotonin by serotonergic neurons.Aim of this study was to evaluate SERT expression in platelets obtained from overweight or obese subjects (OB) as compared with normal weight healthy volunteers (C), and to ...

Obesity is a major cause of chronic hypoventilation and/or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary dysfunction and the relationship between OSAS and several clinical, functional and polysomnographics parameters in severely obese patients. 101 subjects (68 females and 33 males) aged 49.2±13.2 years (mean±S.D.), with BMI 46.8±6.5 Kg/m2 were enrolled. Sleep quality and daytime ...