Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) is the most relevant form of secondary osteoporosis and fractures occur in 30–50% of individuals. Moreover, glucocorticoids (GC) may cause osteonecrosis in as many as 25% of patients on high-dose or long-term therapy. Bone loss occurs fast and may be as high as 10–15% within the first 3–6 months and preferentially affects bone sites rich in cancellous bone such as the ribs, vertebral bodies and the femoral neck. It appea...

The Austrian Acromegaly Registry is an initiative of the Austrian Society for Endocrinology and Metabolism. This database includes 607 patients (54% females) followed in twelve centers. Mean treatment period is 10.7 years (range 0–50 years), the total number of patient-years is 6470. Here we report gender-specific differences in the presentation, therapy and biochemical control of acromegaly in patients included in this registry.Mean age at diagnosi...

Background: There is increasing evidence that aldosterone exerts deleterious, blood pressure independent effects on cerebral blood vessels. We aimed to evaluate whether high aldosterone levels are related to fatal stroke.Methods: Serum aldosterone concentrations (SAC, pg/ml) were measured in 3073 Caucasian patients, who were routinely referred to coronary angiography. We calculated Cox proportional hazard ratios for death due to fatal stroke according to...

Background: The myocardium is a target tissue for vitamin D, that was shown to exert several effects on cardiac contractility and calcium homeostasis. We aimed to elucidate whether insufficient vitamin D status is associated with heart failure and sudden cardiac death (SCD).Methods and Results: We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in 3299 Caucasian patients that were all routinely referred to coronary angiography at baseline (1997–2000). 25(OH)...

Background: TPTD treatment has been shown to reduce vertebral and non-vertebral fracture risk in postmenopausal osteoporosis efficiently. However, gains in bone mass achieved by this treatment are almost lost 2 years after cessation of treatment, unless consecutively followed by an antiresorptive treatment such as alendronate.Subjects and methods: In the present prospective randomised open-labelled study in 52 pmp women, we investigated the effect of eit...

Background: The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) is a major regulator of blood pressure, however, there are no studies available addressing its characterization in a large clinical setting. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to describe the relationship between parameters of the RAAS and actual blood pressure results in a large cohort of patients with and without essential hypertension.Methods: We investigated 3253 patients (ages 63.2...

Elderly residents are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency due to immobilization or little opportunity of uv exposure. Decreased cutaneous capacity to form cholecalciferol and diets low in calcium and vitamin D add to this problem.In a prospective cohort study that we performed in 95 institutions in four different provinces of Austria we found that 93% of all patients had a 25(OH)D level ≤20 ng/ml. Aim of this study was to analyse whether differen...

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by the loss of bone density and deficits in bone microarchitecture. “Diabetoporosity” is a new term for osteoporosis in diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) patients, where classical tools for the assessment of bone properties like dual x-ray absorptiometry or bone turnover markers are lacking prognostic accuracy for the determination of bone quality and fracture risk.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are get...

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients have a higher risk for bone fractures, especially in the elderly. However, bone mineral density (BMD) does not reflect their increased bone fragility, potentially based on disturbed bone metabolism or quality. MicroRNAs are promising new biomarkers for fracture risk detection. This study aimed to find specific miRNAs in a large cohort of elderly patients with and without T2DM at risk for osteoporotic fractures.<p class="a...