Endocrine Abstracts

The majority of adrenocortical tumors (ACT) are benign and hormonally non-functioning, in contrast to adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC), which are rare and usually very aggressive tumors. The differential diagnosis between these two entities is mainly based on unspecific and subjective criteria, contributing to the inaccuracy of diagnosis. Due to ACC molecular and biological heterogeneity, prognostic factors have a limited capacity to predict ACC clinical outcomes, leading to an...

Arterial hypertension usually results from the deregulation and hyperactivity of the renin angiotensin-aldosterone system. One of the available therapeutic approaches for its treatment is the use of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonists, thus blocking aldosterone action.The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of spironolactone and eplerenone, on the morphology of the adrenal gland of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive (...

Endocrine-related cancers comprise a complex group of heterogeneous pathologies whose development and progression are profoundly conditioned by endocrine–metabolic deregulations. The well-known capacity of somatostatin (SST) to inhibit hormone secretion and cell proliferation in a wide variety of cell types, coupled to the ubiquitous expression of SST receptors (ssts) in normal and tumoral tissues, has led SST analogs (SSAs) to be extensively used in clinical practice for...

Introduction: The majority of adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) autonomously produce steroids. However, urinary steroid profile of patients with ACC revealed that these tumors secrete and release predominantly intermediate metabolites. This steroid secretion pattern could be attributed to the undifferentiated status of the tumor cells expressing an incomplete pattern of enzymes involved in the steroidogenic cascade.Aims: Our study aim was to analyze the ex...

Somatostatin (SST) and its related peptide cortistatin (CORT) exert multiple physiological actions through binding to a family of G-protein coupled receptors (sst1–sst5), commonly bearing seven transmembrane domains (TMDs). However, we have recently discovered that human, pig and rodent sst5 gene also generate, through non-canonical alternative splicing, novel truncated albeit functional sst5 variants that lack one o more TMDs. Our studies indicate that truncated sst5 var...

Objective: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a rare, sometimes life-threatening clinical syndrome. However, some cases are subclinical (SPA), just revealed by MR performed during the follow-up of known pituitary adenomas or due to other conditions. Our aims were to describe the clinical characteristics and evolution of the patients with SPA compared with patients with acute PA (APA). We also compare the results of surgery vs conservative management in the APA group.<p class="abst...

Hypothalamic GH releasing hormone (GHRH) has hypnotic actions by increasing slow wave sleep (SWS) (non-rapid eye movement sleep, non-REM), which account for about 75% of sleep. Conversely, GH may stimulate the rapid eye movement sleep (REM). Patients with GH deficiency (GHD) often exhibit sleep problems leading to daytime fatigue and reduced quality of life (QoL). We have described a cohort of patients with isolated GHD (IGHD) due to GHRH resistance caused by a homozygous null...