Endocrine Abstracts

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...

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...

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...

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,...

As genetic and environmental components contribute to the PCOS expression, we compared levels of endocrine disruptors, steroid hormones, cytokines, and metabolic parameters in twenty healthy, nine normal-weight PCOS women, and ten obese PCOS women. Steroid hormones, bisphenols (BPA, BPS, BPF, BPAF) and parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, benzyl-parabens) were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Differences between the groups were assessed using ...

Introduction: Parabens are a group of chemicals used as preservatives in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. They are known to possess estrogenic effects, and therefore have been classified as endocrine disruptors. In addition to the classical endocrine organs, other tissues have endocrine activity, including adipose tissue. Several chemicals are known to cause obesogenic effects, and parabens are currently being studied in this context. The aim of this study was...

Hypoglycaemia stimulation serves as a model of physiological function of adrenal action during the stress reaction. The study aimed to describe the differences of steroid response between hypoglycemia and various doses of Synacthen (as ACTH stimulation alone). The goal of the study was to investigate the physiology of adrenal response. Twenty four steroids were measured in plasma using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry after stimulation of 1 μg, 10 μg and 250 &#...

The adrenal androgens dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, androstenedione, 5-androstenediol and 11β-hydroxy-androstenedione have a wide spectrum of important physiological effects. Aim of our study was to find differences in reaction of the C19 Δ5-steroids between healthy women and patients with adrenal insufficiency in various doses of Synacthen (1 ug, 10 ug and 250 ug). Our study involved seven healthy women and six premenopausal females (BMI an...

Objective: Smoking during pregnancy could have impact on steroidogenesis, with more marked changes in smokers carrying boys as well as in their newborns. The aim of study was compared steroid hormones between non-smokers, ex-smokers, which stop smoking in the beginning of pregnancy, and active smokers.Method: We focused on changes in steroidogenesis in the blood of mothers in their 37th week of pregnancy and in mixed cord blood from their newb...