Endocrine Abstracts

17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) is currently used as a diagnostic parameter in children and young adults when a milder form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH, late-onset) is suspected. A basal serum level of 17OHP (2 ng/ml; 6.0 nmol/l, respectively) has been discussed as cut-off for suspected late-onset disease. We analysed 17OHP in a cohort of children and adolescents without CAH and in confirmed CAH patients to define reference ranges for these age...

Calcification is a physiological process in bone but occurs also pathologically in the vasculature, favouring cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). Vitamin K metabolites, particularly K1 and MK-4, are associated with decreased vascular calcification especially in patients with chronic kidney disease. We investigated the expression of components of the vitamin K cycle (VKC) and the MK-4 synthesis (MKS) in aorta and bone of 26 brain dead organ donors in order to identify d...

Calcification is physiologically present in bone but also pathophysiologically in the vasculature, favouring cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to investigate changes in the expression of calcification regulators (CR) during vascular calcification in bone and vasculature. Gene expression levels of OPG, RANKL, OPN, MGP, BSP-II and RUNX2 were determined in bone, aorta and arteria ilica externa tissue samples of 22 transplant donors. Gene expression levels during atheroscleroti...

Background: Calcification occurs physiologically in bone and pathophysiologically in the vasculature. Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common causes of death within patients with chronic kidney disease and crucial for kidney transplantation (RTX) outcomes.Methods and aim: We investigated the pattern and the onset of expression of regulators of calcification (RC) in the arteria iliaca externa in 26 donors (D) and 25 recipients (R) of RTX to iden...