Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Recently, Th17 cells and their cytokines were identified to play an important role in the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity. IL-23, produced by antigen presenting cells, is required for survival and differentiation of Th17 cells, and is known to guide T cells toward the Th17 phenotype. Its serum levels are increased in several autoimmune diseases, including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), however, the expression level of IL-23 within thyroid tissue assessed...

Introduction: Th17 cells and their hallmark cytokine IL-17A were reported to be involved in the development of autoimmune orchitis and encephalomyelitis by impairing the integrity of the blood–testis and blood–brain barrier integrity and by inducing local inflammation. However, the role of IL17A in autoimmune thyroid disease is still debatable.The aim of our study was to estimate immunoexpression of IL-17A in the thyroid tissue of patients with...

Introduction: Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 2 (PHA2), also known as Gordon syndrome is a rare inherited form of low-renin hypertension associated with hyperkalaemia and hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis in patients with a normal glomerular filtration rate (GFR). PHA2 is the result of mutations in a family of serine-threonine kinases called with-no-lysine kinases (WNK) 1 and WNK4. These enzymes regulate electron channels in the aldosterone sensitive distal nephron, resulting in ...

Introduction and aim: Cytokines play a crucial role in modulating immune response in both Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD). They may contribute to drive the autoimmune response skewing toward the Th17 phenotype and away from Th1 or Th2 phenotypes. Recent studies revealed an essential role of Th17 cells and their cytokines in the development of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD). However, participation of Th17 cells in the pathogenesis of GD is ...

Metformin is a biguanide class agent widely used as a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes, however the detailed mode of action and exact pharmacodynamics has not been clarified. Moreover there is no studies in humans displaying the effect of metformin on DNA methylation. We therefore performed a clinical study involving twelve healthy nondiabetic individuals who were subjected to the 1 week of metformin (2×850 mg/day) treatment. Peripheral blood for DNA isolation was...

Clinical response to metformin is highly variable in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients highlighting the need for identification of genetic components affecting the efficiency of metformin therapy. Aim of this study was to evaluate the role of systematically selected tagSNPs from genomic regions coding for six organic cation transporters implicated in transport of metformin with respect to the short-term efficiency. The study involved 102 drug naïve newly diagnosed T2D patien...

Introduction: Autoimmune thyroid diseases, including Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), are complex diseases combining genetic susceptibility and environmental encounters leading to the breakdown of immune tolerance. The relationship between thyroid cancer (TC) and HT has been proven (Guarino et al. 2010), and the antibody specific association has been demonstrated (Azizi et al. 2014). Overexpression of claudin-1 appears to be an...

Pituitary adenomas (PA) are benign tumors that develop in pituitary gland. Hormone secreting PA can cause overproduction of pituitary hormones leading to different systemic endocrine disorders (acromegaly, Cushing’s disease and others). Non-secreting PA can promote headaches (stretching of the dural sheath) and visual field defects (chiasma compression). We managed to obtain resected tumor samples from the patient having non-secreting PA, first tumor was resected in 2010,...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are non-metastatic neoplasms of the pituitary that may overproduce hormones leading to systemic disorders or tumor mass effects causing headache, vertigo, or visual impairment. The overall estimated clinical prevalence of PitNETs is 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000 people. Although the pathogenesis of PitNETs has been extensively studied the molecular factors underlying tumorigenesis, remission, and therapy response of PitNETs are still unclear. ...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PA) are tumours of the anterior pituitary. Despite the benign nature these neoplasms cause increased mortality and morbidity. Clinically relevant PAs affect around 0.1% of population during their lifetime. Currently, there is no human PA cell culture models. Tissue cultures derived from PA surgery materials depending on harvesting conditions can form free floating aggregates called pituispheres (PS) or adherent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC)....