Endocrine Abstracts

Sarcopenia, the decline in muscle mass and functionality during aging, might arise from age-associated endocrine dysfunction. Indeed, muscle wasting follows the general decline in trophic hormones and the establishment of a chronic mild inflammatory status characteristic of aging. Ghrelin is a gastric hormone peptide circulating in both acylated (AG) and unacylated (UnAG) forms that have anti-atrophic activity on skeletal muscle. AG is the endogenous ligand of the growth hormo...

A 52-year man came to Emergency Department with Atrial Fibrillation with rapid ventricular response due to amiodarone induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT). The patient was found tachi-arrhythmic (153 beats per minute), tachypnoic (27 breaths per minute) and with intense hyperidrosis. His first blood test documented thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) <0.01 mUI/l, free triiodothyronine (fT3) 20.0 pmol/l and free thyroxine (fT4) over 100 pmol/l. Thyroid ultrasonography revealed an enl...