Endocrine Abstracts

Central control of body weight involves coordinated regulation of food intake and energy metabolism. White (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissue represent functionally distinct compartments of lipid storage and fuel consumption, respectively. Both adipose tissues are innervated by the sympathetic nervous system. Tyrosine hydroxylase positive fibers were found in between fat cells. To determine the extent to which the control of different fat compartments is provided by the same...

Since earlier publications revealed a prominent and versatile impact of the neuromedin peptide family on several neuroendocrine processes, in the present experiments we focused on the effects of a recently discovered member of neuromedines, neuromedine S on such phenomena as open-field behaviour and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation. The peptide was administered intracerebroventricularly to freely moving rats and 30 minutes later the aforementioned neuronedocrine...

Introduction: Insulinoma is a rare tumor of the beta cells of the pancreas. The clinical manifestation is diverse with hypoglycemia and autonomic neurological symptoms. For diagnosis the Whipple’s triad needs to be present: signs of hypoglycemia, glucose level under 3 mmol/l and the cessation of symptoms after administration of iv. glucose. The fasting test confirms the diagnosis. The most commonly used imaging techniques that may localize the tumor are the abdominal ult...

Background: von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL) is a rare autosomal dominant disease caused by alterations of the vhl tumor-suppressor gene. Patients with VHL are at risk for development of retinal, central nervous system and spine hemangioblastomas, clear-cell renal cell carcinomas, pheochromocytomas, endolymphatic sac tumors and cysts; and pancreatic islet cell tumors. Based on the presence or absence of pheochromocytoma as a phenotypic marker, VHL can be divided into di...

Objective: Genetic variation in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene may be related to the clinical heterogenety and severity of the Cushing’s syndrome. BclI, N363S and ER22/23EK polymorphisms are the three most investigated polymorphisms within the GR gene, however, the importance and magnitude of their effect in hypercortisolemic states are unclear. The BclI and the N363S variants are associated with increased, while the ER22/23EK variant is associated with reduced glu...

Introduction: Peritoneal implantation of benign pheochromocytomas – also known as pheochromocytomatosis – is a rare event caused by tumour rupture during surgical intervention. In our tertiary referral centre, we managed over two hundred patients with adrenal pheochromocytoma in the past 27 years. Now we report on the two cases diagnosed and followed with pheochromocytomatosis.Case 1: A 33-year-old man presenting with paroxysmal hypertension ...

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessively inherited disorder resulting from the mutations of one of Seven genes involved in adrenal steroidogenesis. The consequent enzyme defects lead to defects of varying severity of steroid biosynthesis. Patients require lifelong substitution treatment and endocrine care.Objectives: One of the many consequences of CAH is reduced fertility. The aim of this study was to investigate th...

Introduction: Hypertension is a severe medical condition that significantly increases mortality and disability worldwide. Most hypertensive patients are classified with essential hypertension; however, secondary hypertension is present 5–10% of all cases. Aortic stenosis is a significant cause of secondary hypertension in children and adolescents. Middle-aortic syndrome constitutes 0.5%–2% of all cases of aortic stenosis. The stenosis involves the abdominal aorta a...

Acromegaly is a rare disorder caused by growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) overproduction, associated with increased morbidity and mortality. It has different complications, among which insulin resistance, prediabetes and diabetes mellitus are substantial. GH affects glucose metabolism through different mechanisms. The therapy of GH overproduction (for example surgical or radiotherapy) improves glucose metabolism, while different types of medical ther...

Introduction: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) may present as a familial or a sporadic disorder with multiple endocrine tumours including parathyroid adenomas or hyperplasias, tumours of endocrine pancreatic and pituitary gland. Familial and sporadic MEN 1-related states which do not fulfill current diagnostic criteria but may be related to MEN 1 syndrome have been also described.Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and sp...