Endocrine Abstracts

Turner’s syndrome (TS) is one of the more common genetic disorder, occurring in about 50 per 100.000 live-born girls. TS is caused by complete or partial X chromosome monosomy in a phenotypic female, and it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality for cardiovascular diseases, impaired glucose tolerance and dyslipidemia. In order to examine the metabolic and cardiovascular profile, in 30 adult TS patients under hormonal replacement therapy (HRT), 17β-estra...

Subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS) is a status of altered hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis secretion in the absence of the classical signs or symptoms of overt cortisol excess. Among the various tests used for the diagnosis of SCS, the 1-mg dexamethasone test (DST) is the most used. Alprazolam (ALP), a benzodiazepine activating GABAergic receptors, possesses clear centrally-mediated inhibitory effects on ACTH and cortisol secretion in normal subjects, while it d...

Impaired GH secretion occurs in Cushing’s syndrome (CS), reflecting hypothalamic and pituitary alterations, without IGF-I impairment. Obesity is known to blunt GH release, leading to BMI-related tests for GHD. Evaluation of GH in CS after remission is difficult, due to chronic previous hypercortisolism and persistent overweight. Aim of this study was to evaluate in 22 patients with Cushing’s syndrome (16 Cushing disease, CD, 6 adrenal adenomas, CS) GH response to GHR...

Insulin tolerance test (ITT) is considered the golden standard test to evaluate HPA axis in suspected hypopituitarism. Low dose (1 μg) ACTH1–24 short stimulation test (LDSST) and metyrapone are often used when ITT is contraindicated. The diagnostic reliability of LDSST is, however, controversial, as even this dose has been considered supramaximal, while very low ACTH doses have been suggested more reliable to assess the adrenal sensitivity. Thus, in...

Interrelationships between HPA axis and sleep architecture are well documented and increased glucocorticoid levels seem associated with quantitative and qualitative sleep disruptions. The knowledge about sleep parameters in chronic hypercortisolism in humans is scanty. Our aim was to evaluate sleep efficiency in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) at time of diagnosis, without ongoing specific therapy, using wrist actigraphy, a methodology that provides good estimations...