Endocrine Abstracts

Four patients with autoimmune hypophysitis were followed since the diagnosis of the disease. All presented with severe headache, decreased libido, astenia. Case 1 and 3 presented polyuria and polydipsia. At MRI pituitary was enlarged, with high gadolinum uptake and stalk enlargement.Case 1, male 41 years. MRI volume: AP 13 mm, CC 7 mm. Hormonal assessment: central hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, hypogonadism, normal GH and IGF1, hyperprolactinemia, centr...

Patients with active Cushing’s syndrome (CS) have an increased coagulability and thrombotic tendency. High glucocorticoids concentrations increase plasma clotting factors, especially von Willebrand factor (vWf) and reduced fibrinolytic capacity. Thromboemobolic complications, mainly in the postsurgical phase, have been reported.Aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate haemostatic and fibrinolytic markers in patients with active Cushing’s ...

The Nelson’s syndrome (NS) is characterized by hyperpigmentation, sellar growing mass, and increased plasma ACTH concentrations The management of NS remains difficult: neurosurgery represent the first choice therapy. Many drugs have been used with variable results: cyproeptadine, GABA-agonists, somatostatin analogues, chemiotherapy, PPAR-γ-agonists, and dopamin-agonists.Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cabergoline administratio...

Current therapies for acromegaly are unsatisfactory for some patients. High dose thiazoledinedines have been reported to shrink tumor size and reduce serum GH levels in animal models of acromegaly. To study the effects of increasing doses of rosiglitazone on serum GH and IGF1 concentrations in acromegalic patients, we designed a phase two clinical trial. We enrolled five consecutive patients with active acromegaly uncontrolled under conventional therapies. They received increa...

Serum pituitary antibodies (Pit Abs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been described in a small percentage of pituitary adenomas but their clinical significance remains unknown.Aim of the study was to assess Pit Abs and TILs prevalence in patients with pituitary adenomas and to determine their influence on the clinical outcome. In this prevalence case–control study were enrolled 291 pituitary adenoma cases, (110 non-secreting, 30 ACTH-...

Introduction: Type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is a form of destructive thyroiditis, commonly responsive to glucocorticoids. On the contrary, type 1 AIT is an iodine-induced hyperthyroidism, occurring in patients with underlying thyroid disease often responding to thionamides.Aim of the study: To compare the effectiveness of methimazole (MMI) or prednisone (GLU) in the treatment of AIT patients with multinodular goiter with biochemical feat...

Amiodarone induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) may develop in patients with either underlying thyroid disorders (type 1) or normal gland (type 2). The latter is considered a drug-induced destructive thyroditis, usually responding to glucocorticoids. Further treatments after restoring euthyroidism are often not necessary. The former is a true form of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism the management of which includes thionamides, potassium perchlorate and thyrodectomy. The prevalence of t...

Pituitary GH secretion is regulated by the interplay of at least two hypothalamic hormones, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, through their interaction with specific cell surface receptors on the anterior pituitary somatotrophs. A third type of receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, called GHS receptor type 1a (GHSR1a), was identified in the pituitary and the hypothalamus. Ghrelin is an acylated peptide produced predominantly by stomach and a natural l...

Exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene contains a variable number of CAG triplets, (CAGr)n which encode a polyglutamine stretch of variable length in the N-terminal domain of the receptor. Experimental evidence has accumulated in demonstrating that the length of this stretch influences the transcriptional activity induced by the AR and therefore modulates target organs responsiveness to androgens.The (CAGr)n is inversely associated with the transcript...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common motor neurone disorder in human adults, presents is characterized by selective and progressive degeneration of upper and lower motor neurones in central nervous system. GH secretion, evaluated by GHRH+arginine test, has been recently reported to be impaired in about 70% of untreated ALS patients. The currently available drug for ALS treatment is riluzole, a compound acting through inhibition of glutamate relase, post-synapti...