Endocrine Abstracts

Chronic hypophosphatemia (HP) can be observed among patients (pts) evaluated and treated for osteoporosis, but its prevalence and management are poorly defined. In this study we analyze prevalence, clinical features and diagnostic workup for chronic HP among pts attending a third-level osteoporosis office. Chronic HP was defined as serum phosphate levels persistently < 2.7 mg/dl over a period ≥ 6 months. Tubular reabsorption of phosphate (TRP) was measured and, in pr...

Background: Patients with Klinefelter’s syndrome (KS) present a high prevalence of osteopenia, osteoporosis and fragility fractures. Several factors may contribute to skeletal fragility, e.g. hypogonadism, derangements in vitamin D metabolism, reduced testicular secretion of Insulin-like Factor 3. However, phosphate metabolism has never been investigated.Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted to investigate prevalence and characteristics of...

Introduction: Glucagon stimulation test is one of the recommended growth hormone provocation tests for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency in children. In adult patients, recent data showed that glucagon administration is able to stimulate the release of copeptin, the stable C-terminal glycopeptide of the AVP prohormone whose evaluation during hypertonic saline infusion represents the gold standard for the differential diagnosis of polyuria/polydipsia. However, similar data o...

Background: Hypophosphatasia is a rare genetic disease with low serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and hypophosphatasemia. It is caused by loss-of-function mutations and deletions of the tissue-nonspecific isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP) gene; it has a wide range of severity in its phenotype, from death in utero to asymptomatic disease accidentally diagnosed in adult life. Furthermore, some diseases and drugs may induce hypophosphatasemia. Thus, the ...

Background: Prolactinomas are the most common functioning pituitary adenomas and are mostly diagnosed in fertile women. Dopamine-agonists (DAs) have always represented the cornerstone of prolactinoma treatment in terms of hormonal control and tumor shrinkage. Recent guidelines suggest surgery as an alternative option in selected cases after a joint evaluation with an expert surgeon. Prolactinoma management in women seeking fertility and during pregnancy remains challenging, an...

Introduction: Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in male hypogonadism aims at restoring physiological plasma testosterone (T) levels. According to current guidelines, gel formulations should resemble better the circadian T secretion and offer physiological and consistent T concentrations. However, only a few real-life studies have assessed intra-individual reproducibility of T levels in patients treated with gel formulations.Methods: Thirty patients ...

Introduction: The effects of testosterone on coagulation have not yet been clarified. In particular, it is still controversial whether male hypogonadism, or testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), may slightly increase the risk of venous thromboembolism, in particular during the first months of therapy. This study aimed to assess the hemostatic balance in hypogonadal men before and after short-term TRT, compared to healthy controls.Methods: Thrombin gene...

Background: Patients with Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) have a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) related to a hypercoagulable state. Previous studies showed increased levels of procoagulant factors but also an elevation of some of the anticoagulants factors and fibrinolytic enzymes. Once patients achieve disease remission, there is a significant decrease of some procoagulant factors but if these alterations are completely reversible is still unclear. Compared to tradit...

Introduction: Endogenous hypercortisolism is associated with cardio-metabolic complications and promotes the deposition of lipids in different tissues, particularly in the liver. However, the prevalence of hepatic steatosis in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) has been little investigated so far and only one previous study reported a prevalence of 20% using computed tomography. The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of hepatic steatosis and the organ-speci...

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a frequent form of male hypogonadism that may be associated with a series of comorbidities potentially affecting quality of life and survival. As a matter of fact, KS was shown to negatively impact skeletal health. However, the studies so far published on this topic were mainly focused on evaluation ofbone mineral density (BMD) and bone microstructure, whereas data on fracture risk are still lacking. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated for ...