Endocrine Abstracts

GH deficiency (GHD) in adults leads to impairment in body composition and function, as well as to deranged lipoprotein and carbohydrate metabolism implying increased cardiovascular morbidity. The morphologic and metabolic alterations in GHD syndrome are more marked in patients with the most severe GHD, even when evaluated by maximal provocative test such as GHRH + arginine. IGF1 synthesis and secretion are function of the GH status but also of major metabolic factors such as i...

ITT is the test of reference for the diagnosis of adult GH deficiency (GHD), but it is recognized that also GHRH in combination with arginine (ARG) or GH secretagogues (GHS) are equally reliable tests. It has also been suggested that testing with GHS would represent a potent stimulus exploring also the integrity of hypothalamic pathways controlling somatotropic function. We therefore aimed to clarify the diagnostic reliability of testing with ghrelin, the natural GHS. We studi...

Objective: Hypopituitarism in adults may be a consequence of TBI, but in the acute or long term management of TBI patients (ptx), endocrine evaluations are not usually included. Aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hypopituitarism and metabolic syndrome in a population of 54 severe (n=31) and moderate (n=23) TBI ptx (38 M, 16 F; age (mean±S.D.): 39.8±2.1 years) who had TBI more than 12 months before.<p class="abstext...

Aim of this study was to evaluate lipid profile and the severity of GHD, in a large group of TBI patients with or without GH deficiency. We assayed lipid profile (Total-, HDL- Cholesterol, Triglycerides) in 62 TBI subjects 12 months after TBI (41 M, 21 F, 13–81 yrs, BMI: 24.6±0.6 kg/m2), and in 62 sex-, age- and BMI-matched controls. Based on the GH peak after GHRH+ARG test, patients were stratified as: 1) severe GHD (GH peak ≤ 9 μg/l; <i...