Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Glucocorticoids (GC) mediate some of the adverse health-related consequences of circadian misalignment, such occurs in shift workers who have an increased cardio-metabolic, immune and cancer risk. Investigating the effect of circadian cortisol exposure in patients with GC excess and defect is crucial. In a therapeutic perspective large attention has been given to the total daily GC exposure, much less to the timing-of-the-day relative exposure. Clock genes are essenti...

Background: There is currently no agreed consensus for the optimization and titration of mineralocorticoid (MC) therapy in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI).Objective: To explore the relationship between serum (sFC) and urine (uFC) fludrocortisone levels and biochemically and clinically important variables, and to assess their utility in guiding and titrating MC replacement.Methods: Multi-centre, observational, cros...

Background: There is currently no agreed consensus for the optimization and titration of mineralocorticoid (MC) therapy in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI).Objective: To measure serum (sFC) and urine (uFC) fludrocortisone levels and explore their relationship with biochemically and clinically important variables (including treatment compliance) in order to evaluate their usefulness as markers to guide the MC replacement titration.<p ...

Aim: To assess the relation between questionnaires of androgenic function (AMS and IIEF-EF scores) and sex hormones (DHT, estradiol and total and free testosterone) in men attending an outpatient clinic for endocrine and reproductive disorders.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all data entered in the electronic database of the Münster Center of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology (CeRA) Androbase from patients visited between January 2015 and Oct...

Introduction: Phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are rare tumours with high morbidity. The majority are benign and surgically curable, but genetic testing suggests that many are associated with germline mutations, and careful long-term follow-up of patients and their family members is important. Regular biochemical screening with plasma or urinary metanephrines (uMetanephrines) is essential, but currently 24-h collections of uMetanephrines is cumbersome and inconven...

Context: Disease processes that affect the pituitary stalk are broad, ranging from indolent lesions requiring simple observation to severe lesions with significant implications. Diagnosis and management of these lesions remains unclear.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical presentation, biochemical and pathology characteristics of pituitary stalk thickening lesions and their association with specific MRI features in order to provide...

The importance of measuring renin or plasma renin activity (PRA) and aldosterone in establishing mineralocorticoid deficiency is not in doubt. Once mineralocorticoid replacement therapy is initiated, guidance suggests that optimization of mineralocorticoid dose should be based upon measurements of blood pressure, renin (or PRA), and electrolytes. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between renin and clinically important variables to determine whether measurem...

Background: Testicular ultrasound (US) is routinely employed in the evaluation of reproductive and sexual function. However, its use for characteristics other than testicular volume is hampered by a lack of information on the prognostic value of its findings, that to date have only been incorporated in a score proposed by Lenz et al. in 1993.Objectives: We sought to explore whether testicular US examination can predict spermatogenesis and provid...

In type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiomiopathy is characterized by an impairment of diastolic performance resulting in ventricular hypertrophy and dilatation. Heart remodelling leads to an increase in its angle of torsion, measurable by innovative cine-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To evaluate the impact of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) on cardiovascular performance in T2DM, we designed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind (subject/outcome assessor) study on ...

Objective: Endocannabinoids (CBs) are novel lipid mediators that modulate appetitive behaviour and energy metabolism. The overactivation of the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in obesity. Endocannabinoids may regulate the lipid metabolism through their receptors (CB1 and CB2) in liver and adipose tissue. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD1) type 1 regulates the local availability of active glucocorticoid, potent inductors of adipogenic different...