Endocrine Abstracts

The ghrelin system comprises ghrelin, des-acyl ghrelin and obestatin, besides ghrelin receptor, GH secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a), and the enzyme promoting ghrelin acylation, ghrelin-O acyl transferase (GOAT). The ghrelin peptides display different biological actions, including regulation of energy homeostasis and glucose metabolism, as well as survival and proliferative effects in different cell types. Besides the stomach, where they are mostly produced, ghr...

Ghrelin was identified in the stomach as the endogenous ligand of the GH secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a). Acylated ghrelin (AG), through interaction with GHS-R1a, exerts many central and peripheral effects, including stimulation of GH secretion and food intake. Unacylated ghrelin (UAG), although unable to bind the GHS-R1a and devoid of endocrine actions is an active peptide, exerting pleiotropic effects through an unknown receptor. UAG has been shown to act as an antag...

Ghrelin was isolated from the stomach and identified as an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a). Numerous studies have demonstrated that acylated ghrelin, besides its main endocrine actions such as stimulation of GH secretion and regulation of energy balance, has a wide spectrum of peripheral activities which engage metabolic, endocrine, cardiovascular, bone and immune systems. It is now clear that also unacylated ghrelin, although un...

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) is synthesized in hypothalamic neurons and regulates the secretion of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary gland. GHRH also displays extra-pituitary activities in a variety of cells and organs expressing both GHRH, GHRH receptor (GHRH-R) and its splice variants (SVs). These include, among others, the retina, pancreas, kidney, skeletal muscle and heart. In the heart, we have demonstrated that GHRH(1-44)NH2 exerts survival and antihypert...

Background: The recognition of the erectile dysfunction (ED) pathogenesis is essential to identify the appropriate ED management. Since vascular ED (vED) could be a manifestation of a systemic arterial damage, the watershed in the ED diagnostic framework is the discrimination between psychological (pED) and vED. However, reliable tools to directly diagnose pED are currently lacking.Aim of the study: To identify which parameters could predict pED. Moreove...

Introduction: The endothelium produces molecules regulating vascular function, such as nitric oxide (NO). NO protects blood vessels from endogenous injury and causes vasodilation through activation of second messengers. In diabetes mellitus (DM), hyperglycemia provokes oxidative stress, reduction of NO and increased synthesis of vasoconstrictors (e.g. endothelin). Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are enzymes, controlling the rate of degradation of second messengers....

Introduction: CyberKnife (CK), an innovative LINAC-based robotic device for frameless stereotactic surgery, is an emerging approach in the management of tumours of the sellar region.Patients and methods: In total, 14 patients (six men, mean age 52.7 years) with sellar tumours (three craniopharyngiomas and 11 pituitary adenomas) were evaluated. Pituitary adenomas (PA) were non-functioning (7), GH-secreting (2), one GH/TSH-secreting (1) or PRL-secreting (1...

Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be a major cause of vascular complications in diabetes. Our research shows that obestatin, a 23-aminoacid amidated peptide recently identified as a product of the ghrelin gene, inhibited high glucose-induced apoptosis in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC). Exposure to high glucose concentration (30 mM) for 72 h caused a significant increase in apoptosis, as evaluated by Hoechst staining, but co-treatment of rat obestatin (from...

Macrophages play essential roles in the immune defence and their hyperactivation has been implicated in epithelial damage in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), commonly observed in severe COVID-19 patients. In these cells, SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein triggers aberrant production of pro-inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and matrix meta...

Background: Persons with assigned either male (AMAB) or female (AFAB) sex at birth might wish to obtain feminization or masculinization, respectively. To this purpose, hormonal treatment with sex hormones must be tailored to each subject. Several studies and the European Society of Endocrinology guidelines tried to identify the optimal hormonal treatment in both AMAB and AFAB subjects. However, the clinical management in the long term follow-up remains challenging. Many treatm...