Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor involved in the synthesis and release of pituitary gonadotropins. GnRH analogs constitute the most widely employed medical treatment for prostatic cancer. The predominant mechanism of action is presumed to be via the inhibition of gonadotropins and resultant decrease in androgen. Although pituitary and extra-pituitary GnRH-R transcripts appear identical, their functional characteristics ...

Introduction: Premature ejaculation (PE) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are considered pre-testicular causes of male subfertility. No previous study systematically evaluated the prevalence of ED and PE along with their possible correlations with clinical and colour-Doppler ultrasound (CDU) features in infertile men.Methods: Ejaculatory status, erectile function, prostatitis symptoms and psychopathological traits of 244 men complaining of couple infertilit...

Introduction: We previously developed and validated a structured interview (SIEDY) dealing with the organic (scale 1), relational (scale 2) and intrapsychic (scale 3) components of erectile dysfunction (ED). The aim of the present study is to identify a pathological threshold for SIEDY scale 3 and to analyze scale 3 score with biological and psychological correlates in subjects with sexual dysfunction.Method: A pathological threshold of SIEDY scale 3 sco...

Introduction: Male-to-female gender identity disorder (MtF GID) is a complex phenomenon that could be better evaluated by using a dimensional approach.Aim: To explore the aggregation of clinical manifestations of MtF GID in order to identify meaningful variables describing the heterogeneity of the disorder.Methods: A consecutive series of 80 MtF GID subjects (mean age 37±10.3 years), referred to the interdepartmental Center fo...

Introduction: Childhood maltreatment is quite common and constitutes a non-specific risk factor for a range of different emotional and behavioural problems during lifespan. It has been demonstrated that sexual minorities are at higher risk of maltreatment and abuse, and a high proportion of transsexual subjects reports childhood maltreatment.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of reported childhood maltreatment in a clinical sample of patients with male to f...

Rationale and aims: Aberrant activation or “reactivation” of androgen receptor in the course of androgen-ablation therapy shows a potential cause for the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. This study tested the hypothesis that belinostat (PXD101), a potent pan histone deacetylase inhibitor, may potentiate hormonal therapy and prevent onset of castration resistant phenotype Material and Methods. A panel of human prostate cancer (Pca) cells with grade...

We hypothesized that hormonal therapy favors the development of the hormone-resistant (HR) phenotype through epigenetic mechanisms. Human prostate cancer (Pca) tissues and in vitro and in vivo models were used to verify this hypothesis. We demonstrated that tumor cells continuously treated with BCLT or cultured in androgen depleted medium progressively acquire higher DNMT activity and expression. Increased DNMT expression and activity also paralleled the up-regul...

Objective: The role of thyroid hormones in the control of erectile functioning has been only marginally investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between thyroid and erectile function in a general population sample (European Male Aging study, EMAS study) and in patients seeking medical care for sexual dysfunction (University of Florence Study, UNIFI study).Participants: Two different cohorts of subjects were evaluated. The fir...