Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome (CS) has been related to higher psychopathology. Psychopathology can be related to poor memory performance, and low quality of life. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship between the three parameters and with subjective symptom perception in CS.Methods/design: Thirty six patients in remission of CS and 36 matched controls for age, sex and education years were included in the study. They completed SCL...

Introduction: FKBP5 is a protein that regulates glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity, via an ultra-short negative feedback mechanism. Variations in the FKBP5 gene can influence the response to glucocorticoids (GC). Hypercortisolaemia plays a role on impairment of brain function and could be mediated by epigenetic variations of the FKBP5 gene. Cushing’s syndrome (CS), a disease characterized by hypercortisolaemia, is associated with memory deficits, lower ...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome (CS) has been associated with low quality of life, even after biochemical cure. However little data is available on long term follow-up. The aim of the study was to analyse 10-year follow-up of quality of life (QoL) in patients in remission of CS.Methods: 24 patients in remission of CS followed in Hospital Sant Pau were included in this study (3 men, 21 pituitary origin, 3 adrenal; mean baseline age 45.1 ± 14.1...

The ERCUSYN (European Registry on Cushing’s syndrome (CS)) study is a project funded by the European Commission Public Health Program (PHP 800200), of which the ESE is one of the 41 Partners from 25 countries. The aims include obtaining prospective and follow-up data at EU level on epidemiology, mortality, outcome of therapies, co-morbidities, assessment of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, quality of life evaluation using a disease-generated questionnaire (CushingQo...

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) and acromegaly, despite their different specific symptoms, often present psychopathology (mainly depression and anxiety) even after hormonal normalization. However, their psychopathological profiles may be different. The aim of this study was to analyse the psychopathological profile in successfully treated Acromegaly and CD, and to compare both diseases. Current hormonal evaluation and time since endocrine control will also be analyse...

Introduction: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein that has been linked to several cardiovascular risk factors and bone status. Stress and corticosteroid exposure can affect BDNF levels, although this has never been studied in Cushing’s syndrome (CS). The aims of this study were to establish if BDNF levels were reduced in CS and to check possible associations to cardiovascular risk factors and bone status.Methods: 52 patients (18 ac...

Context: Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is a rare endocrine disease, due to cortisol hypersecretion. CS patients have several comorbidities, often still present after biochemical cure. There are no specific nursing healthcare programs to address this disease and achieve improved health related quality of life (HRQoL). Thus, an educational nursing intervention in these patients, through the development and promotion of specific educational tools, appears to be justified.<p cl...

Introduction: Hypercortisolism in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) determines increased mortality and morbidity. Hypercortisolism is also present in chronic depressive disorders and stress, where telomere length (TL) is shorter than in controls. We hypothesized that telomere shortening may occur and contribute to premature morbidity in CS.Aim: Investigate TL in CS compared to matched controls, and longitudinally in a subset of CS patients evaluated both with...

Introduction: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a sensitive, non-invasive imaging technique capable of measuring brain metabolites in vivo. Chronic exposure to endogenous hypercortisolism in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is associated with negative effects on memory and hippocampal volumes, even after biochemical cure.Objective: To investigate metabolites in the hippocampi of CS patients and controls, using 1</sup...

Two adipokines highly expressed in fat mass, adiponectin with antiinflammatory and antiatherogenic properties, and visfatin with an insulin-mimetic effect, are potential contributors to bone metabolism. In acromegaly data on adiponectin are contradictory and there are no data on visfatin.Objectives: To evaluate adiponectin and visfatin in acromegaly, compared to control subjects and to analyze their relationship with body composition and bone mineral mar...