Endocrine Abstracts

In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is considered the gold standard to distinguish between unilateral and bilateral disease, while diagnostic imaging tests (CT/MRI) are often inconclusive for the diagnosis of PA. To date agreement is lacking on the best criteria indicating successful cannulation and lateralization. Aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of different diagnostic criteria for the successful cannulation and lateralization ...

Introduction: Somatostatin (SST) is a widely distributed polypeptide that modulates the endocrine and exocrine secretion, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and apoptosis via G protein-linked receptors. Our previous studies showed high SSTR expression in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) and in cortisol producing adenoma (CPA). Only very few information are available about the effectiveness of SST analogs in adrenal tumors.<p clas...

Introduction: Angiogenesis plays a major role in cancer growth and metastasis. Differences in angiogenesis and the balance of angiogenic growth factors and inhibitors may play a role in determining the observed variations in tumor behaviour. VEGF overexpression in adrenocortical carcinomas (AC) has been recently shown. Moreover a new steroidogenic specific tissue angiogenic factor (EG-VEGF) has been described, and its role is presently unknown in adrenal tumors. Previous evide...

In patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is considered the gold standard to distinguish between unilateral and bilateral autonomous production of aldosterone, while diagnostic imaging tests by CT scan or MRI are often inconclusive for the diagnosis. To date agreement is lacking on the best criteria indicating successful cannulation and lateralization.The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of different diagnostic c...

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ releasing adipokines and expressing specific markers and intracellular mediators, which regulate whole-body energy by balancing lipid accumulation and utilization through adipogenesis, the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes associated with gradual lipid storage, and lipogenesis, the additional lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes. Adipogenesis and lipogenesis, strongly induced by insulin, occur in white adipocytes, s...

Obesity, characterized by an abnormal body fat accumulation mainly caused by a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, is a massive public health problem. Targeting excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue and ectopic fat accumulation in skeletal muscle through promoting lipid oxidation pathway may represent a promising strategy to counteract obesity. This study aims at investigating the effects of cabergoline (CAB), a dopamine agonist, on adipose and skelet...

Cushing’s disease (CD), caused by an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-secreting pituitary tumor, is the most common form of hypercortisolism. Pituitary surgery is the first-line treatment of CD and medical treatment is an alternative second-line approach to control cortisol excess. Long-term exposure to glucocorticoids (GC) downregulates the expression of somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2) but not type 5 (SSTR5) in human and mouse ACTH-secreting tumor cell cultures; t...

Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) is associated with a severe myopathy mainly affecting type 2 muscle fibres, with a higher prevalence in male subjects. The excess of glucocorticoids (GC) levels represents the most common cause of myopathy due to an alteration of protein metabolism. The non-coding post-transcriptional gene regulators muscle-specific microRNAs (miRNA) control muscle development and differentiation but when dysregulated lead to skeletal muscle (SM) disorder. The aim ...

Chronic cortisol excess as a consequence of ACTH overproduction from a pituitary tumour is responsible for the development of Cushing’s disease (CD). The first-line treatment for CD is pituitary surgery, but medical treatment is an alternative second-line approach to control cortisol excess. Among pharmacological agents, the adrenal-blocking drug ketoconazole (KT), is able to control cortisol excess in the majority of patients with CD. During KT treatment, the adrenal blo...

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological cancer. Debulking surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy are the cornerstone of OC management; however, after a partial initial response, tumors invariably relapse. Therapeutic approaches should account for interindividual heterogeneity since OC histiotypes show distinct genetic profile. A2780 cell line has been annotated as high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC); nevertheless, recent research underlined that the genetic ...