Endocrine Abstracts

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients, including cancer patients. Multiple causes can lead to hyponatremia, but frequently this electrolyte disorder is due to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD). In cancer patients this syndrome is mostly secondary to ectopic secretion of arginine vasopressin by tumoral cells. In addition, several chemotherapeutic drugs induce the release of arginine vasopressin by the hypothalamus. There i...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disease associated with ageing, is still an incurable condition. Although in vitro evidence strongly indicates that oestrogen exerts neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects, the role of this class of hormones in the treatment of AD is still a debated issue. In 2000 a new gene, named seladin-1 (for Selective Alzheimer’s Disease indicator-1), was identified and found to be down regulated in vuln...

Hyponatremia is the most frequent electrolytic disorder in clinical practice. It is estimated that in about 50% of cases hyponatremia is secondary to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD). Hyponatremia is associated with a worse outcome and with increased mortality in several diseases, including cancer. In vitro and in vivo evidence shows that low [Na+ ] is associated with neurological and extra-neurological alterations, which include f...

Hyponatraemia represents an independent risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures, affecting both bone density and quality. A direct stimulation of osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in the presence of reduced extracellular sodium concentrations ([Na+]) has been shown, but, to date, the effects of reduced [Na+] on osteoblasts have not been elucidated. This study investigated the effects of a chronic reduction of extracellular [Na+], independently of osmotic stress, on hum...

Introduction: Hyponatremia (HN) is the most common electrolyte disorder of hospitalized patients (pts). It occurs in up to 28% of in-pts, increases the in hospital risk of death by 1.47 fold, and is associated with significantly higher mortality risk following discharge. The HN Registry is the first large scale, international effort to document the clinical characteristics, treatments used, and impact of HN in hospital settings.Methods: After informed co...

Introduction: There is evidence that chronic mild hyponatremia (serum (Na+) 130–135 mmol/l) may have clinical consequences, such as fracture occurrence and neurological symptoms including unsteadiness, falls and attention deficits. These have been traditionally associated to water movement into nervous cells, as a result of the hypotonic state. The aim of the present study was to determine whether low extracellular sodium directly exerts negative effects on human neuronal...

Introduction: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in clinical practice, and evidence to date indicates that severe hyponatremia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of our study was to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis that included all the published studies that compared mortality rates in subjects with or without hyponatremia of any degree.Methods: An extensive Medline, Embase, and Cochrane search was perfo...

The exposure of cells to high glucose concentrations is considered a determinant of diabetic neuropathy. Conversely, members of the Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) system are well known neurotrophic factors. Here, we investigated the effects of constant and intermittent high glucose concentrations on IGF-I and IGF Binding Proteins (IGFBPs) in human neuroblast long-term cell cultures (FNC). We first demonstrated that FNC express the IGF-I receptor, and express and release in t...

Thyroid hormones (TH) play a fundamental role during brain development by modulating the expression of different genes involved in neuronal differentiation, proliferation, migration, myelinization, and synapse formation. Seladin-1 (for SELective Alzheimer’s Disease INdicator-1) is a recently identified anti-apoptotic gene, which has been found to be down-regulated in brain regions affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We hypothesized that seladin-1 might be a ...

Introduction: To date, two pharmacogenetic studies investigated the effect of the common exon 3 deletion of GH receptor (d3-GHR) variant in small series of acromegalic patients treated with Pegvisomant (Peg), suggesting an association of d3-GHR allele with better response to Peg.Aim: To assess the influence of d3-GHR variant in a large cohort of acromegalics with active disease and resistance to somatostatin analogues (SSA) treated with either Peg monoth...