Endocrine Abstracts

Prolactin-secreting (PRL) adenomas are about 40% of all pituitary adenomas. The most important clinical symptoms of PRL excess are gonadal and sexual dysfunction as a result of tumor expansion in patients with macroadenomas. Medical therapy of prolactinomas relies on the use of dopamine agonists which induce normalization of PRL levels and shrinkage of the tumor mass in the majority of patients. The present study evaluated whether doses of dopamine agonist inducing normalizati...

Thyroid hormone resistance (THR) and pituitary TSH-secreting adenomas (TSHoma) are both characterised by increased serum free thyroid hormone levels and normal TSH concentrations. Differentiation of the two syndromes is a clinical challenge, and relies on the suppression (TRH) or lack of suppression (TSHoma) of TSH-dependent parameters and on the presence of germinal mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor beta 1 gene in patients with THR. Thyroid blood flow, evaluated using...

Pituitary autoantibodies have been detected in patients with endocrine autoimmune diseases as well as in various pituitary diseases but their role in determining pituitary dysfunction is not clear. The aim of the present study was to evaluate anterior and posterior pituitary function in a group of patients with detectable pituitary autoantibodies.31 patients (29 women and 2 men) were enrolled in the study: 21 patients affected by Hashimoto’s thyroid...

Organ-specific autoantibodies have been detected in patients with autoimmune diseases. The relationship between pituitary autoantibodies and lymphocitic hypophysitis has not yet been established and it is not clear if they are a specific serological marker of the disease.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of pituitary autoantibodies in patients affected by autoimmune and nodular thyroid disorders.803 patien...