Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Multidisciplinary approach to pituitary disease is highly recommended; it requires a close relationship between expert pituitary surgeons and endocrinologists together with several specialists (e.g. neuroradiologists) in order to provide a high-level standard of care. Although there is evidence that neurosurgeons’ expertise is a key element to achieve better outcomes, also endocrinologists’ role is fundamental but it may sometimes encounter real-life barr...

Background: Adult growth hormone (GH) deficiency (AGHD) is related with alterations in body composition, increased abdominal and visceral adiposity, adverse change in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and reduction of bone mineral density (BMD).Aim: To compare baseline outcomes concerning body composition and biochemical/hormonal data among adult patients with AGHD referring to a single endocrinological center and grouped according to their history of r...

Background: Patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) have impaired health-related quality of life (QoL). While the effects of reduced muscle mass and vitality-loss on QoL have been well characterized in AGHD, the impact of AGHD on sexual function, a recognized factor influencing well-being, has never been deepened.Aim: To investigate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AGHD patients referring to a single endocrinological center and groupe...

Introduction: Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a dominantly inherited syndrome, first identified in 1967 by Refetoff, characterized by reduced organ responsiveness to thyroid hormone. The most typical pattern being an elevated serum free T4 (fT4) concentration in association with non-suppressed TSH, usually accompanied by high serum levels of free T3 (fT3), with a considerable inter-individual variation and heterogeneous phenotype. The most frequent defect which causes R...

Introduction: Tubulin is a multifunctional cytoskeletal protein involved in key cellular processes, including cell movement, intracellular transport and mitosis. An increased expression of βIII-tubulin (TUBB3) has been observed in several cancer types and associated with aggressive and drug refractory disease.Expression of claudins (CLDNs), the main component of tight junctions, is frequently altered in human cancers, including papillary thyroid car...

Introduction: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a non-classical HLA-class Ib molecule with multiple immunoregulatory properties. Its main role is the maintenance of tolerance between maternal immune system and semiallogenic fetus. The expression of HLA-G antigen has been reported in several cancers and seems to play an important role in the escape of tumour cells from immune surveillance. A 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in exon 8 of the 3′ untranslated region ...

The aim of this study was to define the occurrence of hypothyroidism and its impact on CHF progression. Four hundred and twenty-two consecutive outpatients (326 males, aged 65±12 years) with CHF in stable condition and conventional therapy were evaluated. Thyroid status was checked at least every 4 months. The progression of heart failure was defined as death, urgent heart transplantation, or hospitalisation due to worsening HF.<img src="/ea/0026/ima...

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is the third most common endocrine disorder. The Ca/P ratio is an accurate tool to differentiate patients with PHPT (>3.5 if Ca and P are expressed in mg/dl) from healthy subjects [1]. The reliability of this index is based on the fact that serum Ca and P are inversely related together. However, other disorders of the Ca-P metabolism, such as hypophosphoremia (HypoP), might impair the Ca/P ratio.Aim: To ...

Background: AGHD is a recognized clinical entity, but symptoms are quite nonspecific; the lack of objective tools able to measure patients’ health status remains the main barrier in clinical monitoring and treatment.Aim: The MAGHD Study aims improving AGHD patients’ management through a Smartphone app (MAGHDApp) and a fit-watch integrated with a software framework able to merge daily data of patients’ well-being and physical activity with ...

Background and aim: Several ultrasound (US) classifications for thyroid nodules have been proposed. Since most of them are hardly applicable in clinical practice, we set up the Modena US Thyroid Classification (MUT) that stratifies the risk of malignancy considering both knowledge derived from scientific literature and clinician subjective impression. The aim of the present study was to test the diagnostic accuracy of different thyroid US classification systems, AACE/ACE-AME, ...