Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The role of testosterone in cardiovascular (CV) health of men is controversial. Several data suggest that hypogonadism is associated with CV mortality but not morbidity. However, recent evidence shows that hypogonadal subjects treated with testosterone replacement therapy have a higher incidence of major adverse CV events (MACE). The aim of this study is to analyse whether the gonadal status might predict MACE incidence according to the previous history of MACE, ...

Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is considered an early surrogate marker of silent, or even overt, cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, epidemiological studies take into account only sexual intercourse-related erections. Although autoeroticism is a very common practice, data on masturbation-induced erections as a possible predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) are lacking.Aim: To evaluate the clinical correlates of impaired mas...

Tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins is one of the main processes associated with the development of some specific functions of ejaculated human spermatozoa. Although this process, as well as the identity of the phosphorylated targets, has been well characterized, only few tyrosine kinases (TKs) have been identified so far. Moreover, their roles in regulating sperm functions are still unknown.In the present work, we report the presence and localization o...

Control mechanisms of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol (CORT) secretion and metabolism during acute systemic inflammation (e.g. major surgery) have never been clearly elucidated. We sampled blood every 10 minutes for 12 h during and after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 10 patients to create profiles of ACTH, CORT and inflammatory mediators and compared these to healthy controls. Patients’ ACTH and CORT responses were classified into one of three...

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the primary neuroendocrine system activated to establish homeostasis during the stress of critical illness and surgery. However, such critical states also trigger a systemic inflammatory activation that usually precedes the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol. Systemically or locally induced inflammation of the adrenal gland had been described during critical illness. This facilitates...

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the primary neuroendocrine system activated to establish homeostasis during the stress of critical illness and surgery. However, such critical states also trigger a systemic inflammatory activation that usually precedes the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol. Systemically or locally induced inflammation of the adrenal gland had been described during critical illness. This facilitates...

Introduction: Digito-rectal examination (DRE) of the prostate is provides useful information on the state of prostate growth and on the presence of suspected peripheral nodules. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical and biochemical correlates of finding an enlarged prostate size at DRE in subjects with sexual dysfunction (SD).Methods: A consecutive series of 2379 patients was retrospectively studied. The analysis was focused on a subset of su...

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a diagnostic category which identifies subjects at high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, erectile dysfunction (ED) and male hypogonadism. However, MetS impact on male infertility has been poorly studied. We systematically evaluated possible associations between MetS and clinical characteristics in men with couple infertility.Methods: Out of 367 consecutive subjects, 351 men (36.0±8.0 years) wi...

Introduction: Smoking habit has always been considered to exert a detrimental effect on male reproductive health. However, several studies do not clearly demonstrate a negative effect of smoke on semen parameters. In addition, the effect of smoke on male genital tract has been poorly studied by ultrasound (US). We evaluated the correlations of smoking with seminal and US characteristics in males of infertile couples. Methods. A consecutive series of 426 men was systematically ...

SUMOylation is a post-translational protein modification involved in the regulation of essential cell functions. Our group found several SUMO-1 and SUMO-2/3ylated proteins in human ejaculated spermatozoa (Marchiani et al. 2011). We showed that SUMO-1 is mainly present in live spermatozoa and the percentage of SUMOylated spermatozoa was inversely correlated with total and progressive motility. SUMOylated proteins are mainly located in the nucleus and in the midpiece. T...