Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: MicroRNAs are short non-protein coding RNA molecules involved in the regulation of numerous homeostatic processes via modulating gene expression. There are some data that the expression of microRNA might be modulated by hormones, but the interaction of hormones and circulating microRNAs of adrenocortical origin is mostly unknown.Methods: The expression of six selected circulating microRNAs (hsa-miR-27a, hsa-miR-125b-2, hsa-miR-200b, hsa-miR-21...

Usually, the first laboratory marker for thyroid disorders is TSH. FT4 and FT3 must not be measured unless TSH is out of the reference range. However, the reference range for TSH (and for free thyroid hormones) given by the manufacturers of immunoassays may be not completely valid for screening in iodine-deficient areas and among hospitalized patients either.Aim: Our aim was to constitute specific TSH, FT4, FT3...

Introduction: In acromegaly GH excess leads to impaired insulin sensitivity with an alteration of beta-cell function. The consequent hyperglycemia leads to a further increased cardiovascular risk and mortality.Case report: A 16 years old patient was first referred to the Department of Pediatrics in 2014 with accentuated growth since the age of 10. The reason of the first referral was a sport injury (head trauma during playing basketball). Sella MRI depic...

Background: Few effective medical treatment options are available for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Intensive efforts are therefore going on for exploring novel pathways and treatment targets.Objective: To perform a proteomic and pathway analysis on a 9-cisRA (9-cis retinoic acid) and mitotane-treated ACC xenograft model.Methods: 43 male SCID mice xenografted with NCI-H295R cells were treated in four groups (i. control, ii. 5 mg/...

Background: Current drug treatment options for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) are rather limited and intensive efforts are going on to find novel effective agents. In our previous functional genomics study, retinoid signalling via the retinoid X receptor (RXR) was identified as a major pathogenic pathway in ACC and we have demonstrated the in vitro activity of 9-cis retinoic acid (9-cisRA) acting via the RXR on NCI-H295R cells and also found that 9-cisRA has antitumou...

Background: Extracellular vesicles (exosomes, microvesicles) shed from tumor cells containing microRNAs can be exploited as markers of malignancy. The preoperative diagnosis of adrenocortical malignancy is difficult and microRNAs have proved useful in the diagnosis of many tumors, including adrenocortical cancer (ACC), but there have no studies to date on extracellular vesicle associated microRNAs in ACC.Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic potential of extra...

Background: The differential expression of tissue microRNAs in benign and malignant adrenocortical tumours has been described in several studies including ours. Novel data show that microRNAs are also present in the bloodstream and can be exploited as minimally invasive markers of malignancy.Objective: To analyze the microRNAs expressed in different studies by an in silico approach and to establish the molecular pathways affected. Furthermore, circulatin...

Phaeochromocytomas are rare catecholamine secreting tumours with an incidence of 1:4500–1:1700 in the United States. Doxazosin and Phenoxybenzamine are alpha-1 selective and non-selective alpha blockers respectively which are commonly used to treat this condition peri-operatively. There are no randomized controlled studies comparing the effectiveness of these two medications. However, there are retrospective studies comparing these two medications; some favouring alpha-1 ...