Endocrine Abstracts

Metabolic (dysregulation)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is the main cause of liver dysfunction, showing a prevalence of 20-30% in the general population and 57-74% among patients with obesity. MAFLD comprises a spectrum of chronic liver diseases, ranging from simple hepatic steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH, which can lead to advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis, increasing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most frequent, heterogeneous...

The dysregulation of the splicing process has emerged as a novel hallmark of metabolic and tumor pathologies. Specifically, in breast cancer (BCa), which represents the most diagnosed cancer type among women worldwide, several oncogenic splicing variants have been reported to have a relevant pathophysiological role. This is the case of the splicing variants of HER2 gene, or the In1-ghrelin and SST5TMD4 isoforms, which exhibit oncogenic roles, increasing the malignancy, poor pr...

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...

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...

GH levels decline with age and weight gain and are enhanced in response to nutrient deprivation. Under these circumstances, GH levels are negatively correlated with IGF1 and insulin levels. Since IGF1 and insulin can directly inhibit GH synthesis and release from primary pituitary cells of different species, it is commonly accepted that changes in circulating IGF1 and insulin serve to directly regulate somatotrope function in response to metabolic extremes. However, teasing ap...

Kisspeptins (Kp), a peptide family encoded by Kiss1 gene, and their receptor Kiss1r were first identified by their anti-metastatic actions but have emerged as key regulators of the reproductive axis, where they integrate sexual, metabolic and seasonal cues to control hypothalamic GnRH release. Recent data indicates that some actions of Kps may be effected directly at the pituitary (PIT), since Kissr1 is expressed in the PIT and Kp stimulate luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion d...

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a growing cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the molecular mechanisms associated with the pathological progression from MAFLD to HCC are still to be fully elucidated. The genomic and transcriptomic profile of HCC samples have been widely described; however, the proteomic landscape of MAFLD-derived HCC samples is mostly unknown. Here, we sought to perform the first quantitative proteomic analysis of HCC samples from ...

Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is rapidly becoming a major aetiology for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, the most common liver cancer) in the context of chronic liver disease. Current therapeutical options for MAFLD (dietetic/lifestyle intervention and/or pharmacological approaches) are still insufficient and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this disease are yet to be fully understood. Our group previously reported that the n...

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a growing cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCs); however, the molecular characteristics of MAFLD-derived HCCs are still to be elucidated. To provide novel insights in this field, we performed the first quantitative proteomic analysis of HCC samples from different aetiologies. Particularly, cytosolic and nuclear proteome of liver tissues from HCC patients (n=42; HCC vs adjacent tissue) and healthy contr...

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that metformin can reduce high-fat diet (HFD)-induced body weight gain and fat accumulation in the liver. However, the results obtained in animal models regarding the implication of metformin in the modulation of other whole-body and tissue-specific parameters, are controversial or need to be further explored. Consequently, we aimed to explore the capacity of metformin in modulating glucose/insulin metabolism, liver function, adiposity, ...