Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: AKR1D1 is a 5β-reductase that sits at the interface of steroid hormone metabolism and primary bile acid biosynthesis. 5β-reduced androgens are widely believed to be inactive, but to our knowledge there are currently no data that have directly tested their ability to activate the androgen receptor (AR). We therefore wanted to test the ability of AKR1D1 to regulate androgen availability in vitro and to determine if 5β-reduced androgens are a...

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity and metabolic disturbances is worryingly increasing worldwide, therefore the study of their pathophysiology is extremely important to find new strategies for their treatment. Obesity has an impact not only on the metabolism of the patients, but also profoundly influence their daily life, and potentially affect the quality of life and the quality of sleep. These latter are strictly related to the circadian rhythm of the individuals that, ...

Metabolic syndrome and its hepatic manifestation, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are increasing in prevalence. Steroid hormones are established regulators of metabolic phenotype. 5β-reductase (AKR1D1) is highly expressed in human liver, inactivating steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids and androgens. The human AKR1D1 gene contains 9 exons; six splice variants have been identified and three lead to functional protein isoforms (AKR1D1-001, -0...

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting 6-15% of women of reproductive age. The syndrome is characterised by a variety of reproductive and metabolic features, including hyperandrogenism, chronic anovulation and hirsutism as well as insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Specifically regarding NAFLD, androgen excess is hypothesised to have a direct effect on hepatic lipid storage, thus...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with increased mortality, and the key factors predictive of its development among patients with obesity are still unclear. We recently demonstrated with a machine learning approach that Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) is a novel marker of metabolic health and that in individuals with obesity, lower IGF-1 levels are associated with increased metabolic deterioration. However, the interpretation of IGF-1 serum measurement is ...

Purpose: From a clinical perspective, the full spectrum of Sars–CoV–2–infected patients has not yet been defined. This study aimed to evaluate whether liver density on computed tomography (CT) scan and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) values can explain the clinical variability of COVID–19 cases.Methods: We performed a retrospective study including SARS–CoV–2–infected patients hospitalized from March 2020 to Ma...

Case Summary: In May 2018, a 22-year-old man was admitted to the Emergency Room of Polyclinic Umberto I Hospital of Rome, because of progressive headaches and binocular diplopia. Brain MRI revealed a heterogeneous T1WI-hypointense and T2WI-hyperintense mass of 40x28x25 mm (CC, LL, AP) including calcification areas in the left paramedian region of the clivus invading the homolateral cavernous sinus. The patient underwent partial tumour resection via infratemporal approach and a...

Obesity is associated with hemodynamic alterations that may lead to heart failure (HF), through the development of cardiac structural abnormalities and impairment of ventricular function. Obesity-related neurohormonal and metabolic disturbances may predispose to HF, even in the absence of comorbidities. Excess adipose tissue and in particular visceral adiposity contributes to the altered production of a number of anabolic hormones also involved in the regulation of the cardiac...

Background: Oxytocin (OXT) enhances glucose uptake and lipid utilization in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle.Dysfunction of the OXT system could underlie the pathogenesis of weight gain. Men and women with obesity were reported to have higher OXT blood levels compared to normal weight subjects. In contrast, metabolic syndrome has been associated with reduced fasting serum oxytocin in larger scale mixed gender studies.Aim: Data regarding the oxytocin sy...

Background: Reduced growth hormone (GH) secretory capacity is common in patients with obesity and metabolic derangements. The prevalence of GH deficiency (GHD) in this population is difficult to establish. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) pituitary findings may reflect specific endocrine alterations, as for GHD which is associated with lower pituitary height and volume (PV).Purpose: Our aim was to identify the pituitary morphological alterations predicti...