Endocrine Abstracts

Sarcopenia is a degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality, and strength. It increases the risk of falls and fractures, is associated with cardiac and respiratory disease and cognitive impairment and leads to mobility disorders. It decreases quality of life, leads to loss of independence, placement in long-term care and finally death. A variety of indices and parameters can be used to define sarcopenia. According to literature, matrix-GLA-protein (MGP) is associated wi...

The proline rich and Gla domain genes PRRG1-4 encode for short transmembrane proteins. PRRG proteins contain a Gla domain with glutamic acid residues which are gamma-carboxylated in a vitamin-K-depend manner. In a previous study, we were able to show a decrease in PRRG1 gene expression during intima thickening in atherosclerosis. In this study, we investigated the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin-K-dependent protein PRRG1 with cardiovascular...

Matrix–GLA–protein ( MGP), independent of its posttranslational modification(s), has been associated with bone parameters and cardiovascular risk in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We investigated whether uncarboxylated, dephosphorylated MGP (uc–dp MGP), total MGP or both are associated with anthropometric and cardiovascular parameters such as carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), intima–media thickness (IMT) and relat...

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients are at high risk for vascular complications. Some of them have even a higher risk during metformin therapy, as we have recently shown by associations of polymorphisms in the Oct1 gene with a therapy-dependent increased risk of cardiovascular death. In this study, we investigated whether Oct1 gene variants were associated with cardiovascular characteristics such as pulse wave velocity (PWV), echocardiographic parameters and intima/media thickness...

Matrix-GLA-protein (MGP) was repeatedly associated with inflammation markers during the last decade. It is expressed in leucocytes and is a regulator of immune response. Due to posttranslational modification, there are 4 forms. The form responsible for immunomodulation is still unknown. Since the predicted active form - carboxylated, phosphorylated MGP - is not directly associated with immunomodulation, we aimed to investigate the association of dp-ucMGP (dephosphorylated, unc...

Background: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is well known for its association with ovarian follicular count and ovarian reserve in general as well as for its recruitment of primordial follicles in women. With an explicit decrease in menopause, it is mainly used for clinical questions from in-vitro-fertilisation to polycystic ovary syndrome. Interestingly, AMH levels in men are quite high during lifetime, but there is only few data about its relevance and potential effects in...

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), known for its role in fetal development and female reproduction, is also present in adult and elderly men in considerable amounts. In recent years, controversial findings regarding relations to age, other hormones, and BMI (possibly based on a dilutional effect due to higher blood volume) have been discussed. To date, little is known of its clinical relevance in this population. We aimed to further investigate AMH levels in an aging male popu...

Apart from the crucial effects of vitamin D on bone health, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with various chronic conditions such as metabolic or reproductive disturbances. The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) represents the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age. Women affected by PCOS frequently suffer from oligo- or anovulation as well as from obesity and insulin resistance. There is accumulating evidence showing an association of vitamin D s...

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) has a crucial role in growth and metabolism. A specifically designed autoantibody (aAb) assay against the IGF1 receptor (IGF1R-aAb) is able to detect IGF1R-aAb in serum. As the IGF1R has shown involvement in many functional pathologies (e.g. in the Laron syndrome), we aimed to investigate the role of IGF1R-aAb in a large population-based cohort of middle-aged volunteers and their potential effects on anthropometric, osteological a...

Background: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), the most prevalent autoimmune disorder of the thyroid (AITD) is characterized by the presence of circulating autoantibodies, induced by a not fully understood dysregulation of the immune system. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs, which can play a pivotal role in immune functions and the development of autoimmunity. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate whether a panel of nine selected miRNAs differs in ser...