Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Clinical and histopathological assessment of a consecutive series of Munich patients operated between 2016 and 2018 for unilateral primary aldosteronism (PA).Background: Unilateral PA is the most common surgically curable form of hypertension mainly caused by an aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA). Somatic mutations in KCNJ5, CACNA1D, ATP1A1 or ATP2B3drive the aldosterone excess in the majority of APAs. Genetic variants in <...

Four androgens are routinely measured in women: dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione, and testosterone. The diagnosis of hyperandrogenemia in women is accompanied by many difficulties. One of them is the method used to measure androgens in the laboratory. In most laboratories, androgens are determined using various immuno-analytical methods. Recently, gas or liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry have begun to be...

Introduction: Estradiol is an important parameter in the evaluation of female fertility. Moreover, the measurement estradiol is essential in determining the right moment for oocyte retrieval in modified natural cycle IVF (MNC-IVF). Estradiol is measured by an immunochemical method and a change between immunoassays usually comes with a change in reference values due to differences in antibodies used and the lack of harmonization. In our hospital we changed in 2014 from the Auto...

BackgroundUnilateral forms of primary aldosteronism (PA) are usually surgically treated to remove the source of aldosterone excess. After adrenalectomy, aldosteronism persists in a subset of patients indicating abnormal aldosterone production from the unresected gland.ObjectiveTo retrospectively analyze histopathology and post-surgical outcomes in a 3-year prospective cohort of patients diagnosed with unilate...

In recent years, there has been increasing evidence for the hypothesis of bones as endocrine organs. Osteocalcin, long considered just a marker of new bone formation, is now seen as the first hormone produced by bones, and seems to be associated with regulating glucose metabolism and reproduction. The aim of this work was to monitor changes of osteocalcin in reaction to hypoglycaemia, and determine if there are differences in such reactions between the sexes. The study include...

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) exhibit broad spectrum of biological activities in various tissues, including bone, cartilage, blood vessels, heart, kidney, neurons, liver and lung. BMPs are members of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) family that bind to type II and type I serine-threonine kinase receptors, and transduce signals through Smad and non-Smad signalling pathways. BMPs together with other intraovarian growth factors are intimately involved in re...

The production and activities of steroid hormones during pregnancy have many interesting aspects. Their synthesis and metabolism are the result of complex metabolic pathways encompassing activities in the fetus, placenta, and mother. Progesterone, estrogens, androgens and glucocorticoids all play important roles during pregnancy, from implantation to delivery. Focusing on selected steroid hormones in the peripartum period, we defined reference ranges measured using LS-MS/MS, a...

Background: Approximately 20% of NET patients develop CS, characterised by diarrhoea and flushing. However, CS is not the only cause of diarrhoea among NET patients. Non-CS causes should be considered to allow for appropriate management. We investigated the reported occurrence of diarrhoea from various non-CS causes in patients with gastroenteropancreatic NETs (GEP-NETs), to explore the need for differential diagnosis (DDx) of NET diarrhoea.Methods: MEDL...

Dehydroepiandrosterone is the most abundant steroid hormone circulating in the human body, we focused on its 7-hydroxylated derivatives. Many observations in rodents have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and immune modulating activity of 7β-hydroxy-androst-5-enes, and on the basis of these experiments androst-5-ene-3β,7β,17β-triol is considered as a potential agent in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In contrast to the fairly abundant information on ...

Smoking has many effects on human health and reproduction. Women are generally recommended to quit smoking before conception. Cessation improves fertility and helps avoid many health risks for the mother and the child and plays an important role in the future development and health of the offspring. We have decided to perform a study following changes in the production of steroid hormones in pregnant smokers and ex-smokers compared to non-smokers. In physiological pregnancies,...