Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Therapy with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) may have deleterious effects on glucose metabolism in patients with acromegaly, often leading to development of diabetes mellitus (DM).Aim of the study: To evaluate whether DM, which developed during therapy with SSAs, may revert after drug withdrawal and cure of acromegaly with pituitary adenomectomy.Design: Retrospective cohort study, in a tertiary referral center.<p class="...

Current therapies for acromegaly are unsatisfactory for some patients. High dose thiazoledinedines have been reported to shrink tumor size and reduce serum GH levels in animal models of acromegaly. To study the effects of increasing doses of rosiglitazone on serum GH and IGF1 concentrations in acromegalic patients, we designed a phase two clinical trial. We enrolled five consecutive patients with active acromegaly uncontrolled under conventional therapies. They received increa...

Prokineticin 1 (Prok1), the product of EGVEGF/PROK 1 gene, acts through two G-coupled receptors (PKR1 and PKR2) and is involved in a wide spectrum of actions, including tumorigenesis. Increased Prok1 expression has been found in prostate hyperplasia and cancer, suggesting a role in prostate cancer and BPH. Aim of this study was to elucidate the role of Prok1 on prostate cell function and growth. We evaluated the effects of Prok1 on epithelial prostate cell (PC) migration and p...

Raloxifene (RAL) is a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator (SERM) proposed for chemoprevention of breast cancer and osteoporosis. SERMs exert agonist–antagonist effects depending on tissue or ERs expressed. RAL induces apoptosis in both androgen-dependent and independent cell lines, suggesting a selective activation of ERβ and prevalent antagonist effect on ERα in prostate cells (PC). In this study we evaluated effects of estradiol (E2) and RAL on epitheli...

Context: Acromegalic patients have a high-risk cardiovascular profile. However, the determinants of cardiovascular risk factors and major cardiovascular events (MACE), which may develop after diagnosis of acromegaly, are not fully understood.Objectives: To identify the predictors for systemic comorbidities and MACE, after diagnosis of disease. The role of therapy for acromegaly on the occurrence of such complications was also evaluated.<p class="abst...