Endocrine Abstracts

In pregnant women with a thyroid disease an increased amount of LT4 may be required for the correction of hypothyroidism or treatment of nodular goiter.Aim of this study was to assess the amount of the variations of LT4 requirement in pregnant women with thyroid diseases.To address this issue, we retrospectively evaluated a cohort of 138 women treated with LT4 divided in two groups: 47 euthyroid (E) (affected by nodular goiter (NG)...

Pregnant women may require treatment of hypo- or hyperthyroidism, L-thyroxine (LT4), propylthiouralcil (PTU) and methimazole (MMI) being the most frequently used drugs. Aim of this study was to verify the consequences of pharmacological treatment during pregnancy. We retrospectively evaluated 379 pregnancies: 124 patients under MMI treatment, 35 of whom still hyperthyroid in spite of treatment (H-MMI) and 89 euthyroid (E-MMI); 52 GD patients under PTU, 20 of whom still hyperth...

Tumoral calcinosis is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by hyperphosphatemia due to increased renal phosphate reabsorption leading to soft tissue calcifications. The levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), a hormone required for normal renal phosphate reabsorption, are typically low in the classic form of the disease due to homozygous missense mutations in FGF23 or in the UDP-Nacetyl-alpha-D galactosamine:polypeptide N-acetylgalactos...

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) is characterized by the presence of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and other benign pathologies. RET mutations are responsible of this disease and their screening is a very sensitive tool for the identification of gene carriers (GC).Aim of this study was to verify the relevance of the basal and pentagastrin (Pg) stimulated serum calcitonin (CT) in the decision to perform TT in GC. We reviewed data of 65 GC foun...

RAP KO mice have a reduction of colloidal Tg resulting in subclinical hypothyroidism and histological signs of goiter. The difference in colloidal Tg between RAP KO and WT mice was striking by immunohistochemistry, but could not be detected in thyroid extracts. To explain this discrepancy, we hypothesized that the reduction of Tg reflected a reduction of Tg aggregates discarded during tissue extraction. To investigate this possibility, pellets obtained by thyroid homogenizatio...

Serum CT is the most specific marker of Medullary Thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Although Pg test is the most frequently used to induce CT secretion, the poor availability of Pg makes it necessary to look for different agents. Aim of this work was to compare the induction of CT secretion following 2 different stimuli in the same patient. We studied 25 patients (14 females, 11 males; mean age 50±15 yrs; range 12–77 yrs). All patients were subjected to both tests by injectio...

Hypercalcemia is a frequent metabolic disorder in metastatic breast cancer (BC). Aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of hypercalcemia due to PHPT in BC patients. The study group included 271 consecutive BC, mean age±S.D. 57.7±11.96 yrs. 100/271(36.9%) evaluated at different times after mastectomy (A) and 171(63.1%) before surgery (B), with no distant metastases. Age matched control group included 108 healthy women (Co) and 70 women with thy...

Several studies have identified a relationship between oncogene activation and dedifferentiation of PTC. Mutations of RAS, RET/PTC and BRAF modulate the expression of thyroid genes. An impaired NIS expression has been demonstrated in PTCs harboring the BRAFV600E mutation.Aim of this study was to analyze BRAF and RET/PTC1-3 alterations and their influence on the expression of thyroid differentiation genes. Seventy-one PTC samples were studied. Quantitative analysis o...

A high incidence of serum anti thyro-peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) has been found in breast cancer (BC). Aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of TPOAb in BC. The study group included 47 women submitted to mastectomy for high malignancy degree BC (tumor size >5 cm and/or n° lymph-nodes >3), followed for 5 years. No patient had distant metastases. All were evaluated for thyroid disorders after breast surgery and before any anti-tumoral adjuvant the...

18FDG-PET is based on the capability of tumor cells to take up glucose. An increment in expression of the glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) has been observed in thyroid tumors with poor prognosis but very few data are available about the expression of other glucose transporters in thyroid. Here, we study the expression and function of GLUT isoforms 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 in human thyroid carcinoma cell lines ARO and FRO (anaplastic carcinoma), NPA (poorly-differentiated papillar...