Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Perivascular adipose tissue has been implicated in vascular physiology and pathology, including atherosclerosis. Local adipokine production is one of the paracrine mechanisms involved in this adipose tissue fuction. We investigated the expression of adipokines chemerin and adiponectin and their receptors CMKLR1 and T-cadherin, respectively, in human coronary arterial wall and pericoronary fat as well as their correlation with coronary atherosclerosis.<p class...

Introduction: Periadventitial adipose tissue has been implicated in vascular physiology and pathology, including atherosclerosis, through paracrine and endocrine mechanisms, mainly adipokine production. We investigated the expression of adipokines chemerin and adiponectin and their receptors CMKLR1 and T-cadherin, respectively, in human aortic arterial wall and periaortic fat as well as their correlation with aortic atherosclerosis.Methods: Paraffin embe...

Introduction: Adipose tissue is a source of peptides with paracrine and endocrine actions, called adipokines. Adipokines produced by periadventitial fat have been implicated in vascular pathology, including atherosclerosis. We investigated the expression of novel adipokines chemerin and vaspin, as well as visfatin, apelin and adiponectin in human pericoronary and periaortic fat in correlation with coronary and aortic atherosclerosis.Methods: Paraffin emb...

Subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS) is a status of altered hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis secretion in the absence of the classical signs or symptoms of overt cortisol excess. Among the various tests used for the diagnosis of SCS, the 1-mg dexamethasone test (DST) is the most used. Alprazolam (ALP), a benzodiazepine activating GABAergic receptors, possesses clear centrally-mediated inhibitory effects on ACTH and cortisol secretion in normal subjects, while it d...

Cushing’s disease, i.e. cortisol excess due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma, is a rare disorder with considerable morbidity and mortality. Current therapeutic strategies include pituitary surgery, radiation, adrenalectomy and medical treatment with steroidogenesis inhibitors, as drugs aimed at the pituitary adenoma are as yet under investigation. Experimental data showed that retinoic acid restrains ACTH secretion by tumoral corticotrophes thus we decided to evalua...

Impaired GH secretion occurs in Cushing’s syndrome (CS), reflecting hypothalamic and pituitary alterations, without IGF-I impairment. Obesity is known to blunt GH release, leading to BMI-related tests for GHD. Evaluation of GH in CS after remission is difficult, due to chronic previous hypercortisolism and persistent overweight. Aim of this study was to evaluate in 22 patients with Cushing’s syndrome (16 Cushing disease, CD, 6 adrenal adenomas, CS) GH response to GHR...

Interrelationships between HPA axis and sleep architecture are well documented and increased glucocorticoid levels seem associated with quantitative and qualitative sleep disruptions. The knowledge about sleep parameters in chronic hypercortisolism in humans is scanty. Our aim was to evaluate sleep efficiency in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) at time of diagnosis, without ongoing specific therapy, using wrist actigraphy, a methodology that provides good estimations...