Endocrine Abstracts

IntroductionAdrenal insufficiency is a clinical condition that leads to depletion of glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and androgens. While in men adrenal androgen deficiency is not clinically significant for testicular testosterone synthesis, in women so far androgen treatment is suggested for the reduction of libido and depression. However, no data is currently available on female sexual function.Primary endpoints<p class="...

Mitotane (MTT) currently represents the treatment of choice for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). Clinical evidence shows the occurrence of hypogonadism following treatment with this drug, observed more frequently in male patients. The aim of the study, therefore, was to evaluate the impact of MTT treatment on male gonadal function on adult CD1 mice. At the end of the 45 days of treatment, testes were collected for morphological examination, and a blood sample of each animal was...

Biochemical function of adrenal masses is currently based on 1 mg post-overnight dexamethasone suppression test (pDST). Several approaches are recently developed, in order to reduce false positive/negative samples, only in retrospective series. They are based on the correlation of some different parameters, i.e. late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) vs serum and salivary cortisol pDST; LNSC vs serum and salivary cortisol and serum dexamethasone pDST; LNSC and cortisone vs serum ...

It is clinically evident that women suffering from thyroid disorders are associated with frequent occurrence of menstrual disturbances and impaired fertility, and these abnormalities are improved by restoring the euthyroid state. The exact mechanism for such reproductive aberrations is not well known; however, it is conceivable that thyroid hormones might have a direct role in ovarian physiology via receptors in granulosa cells. We evaluated the effect of thyroid hormones (T<s...

Background: Mitotane, 1,1-dichloro-2-(o chlorophenyl) -2- (p-chloro phenyl) ethane (o,p′-DDD) is a compound which represents the effective agent in the treatment of the adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), able to block cortisol synthesis. Nevertheless the biological mechanism induced by this treatment in this cancer remains unknown. Recently, there has been a strong interest in applying proteomics to foster a better understanding of disease proces...

Thyroid hormone action, widely recognized on cell proliferation and metabolism, has recently been related to the phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K), an upstream regulator of the Akt kinase and the involvement of the thyroid hormone receptor β1 has been hypothesized. The serine-threonine kinase Akt can regulate various substrates that drive cell mass, proliferation and survival. Its action has also been characterized in pancreatic β-cells. We previously demonstrated tha...

The lack of an effective medical treatment for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has prompted the, search for better treatment protocols for ACC neoplasms. Sorafenib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor has exhibited effectiveness in the treatment of different human tumors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand the mechanism through which sorafenib acts on ACC, especially since treatment with sorafenib alone is sometimes unable to induce a long-lasting antiproliferative effe...

Adrenal nodular disease is a frequently increasing in the general population with an incidence that reaches almost 10% in the seventh decade of life. More and more evidences show these lesions discovered through diagnostic imaging (CT, MRI) performed for other medical problems (incidentalomas). New radioimaging techniques, exploiting the quantitative variables of imaging, permit to identify an hypothetical pathological tissue. We have applied this potential in a retrospective ...

Background and objectives: Metyrapone has been approved for the treatment of patients with Cushing’s syndrome from all causes, but only few retrospective clinical studies are available. The aim of our study was the prospective assessment of metyrapone as pre-operative treatment.Methods: Before adrenalectomy, 7 patients with ACTH-independent Cushing’s syndrome due to adrenal adenoma were prospectively treated with metyrapone for 3 months, with e...

In patients with Cushing syndrome (CS), hypercoagulability represents a significant concern, leading to elevated risk for thrombotic events. After curative surgery, hypercoagulability persists for several months; CS treatment guidelines recommend anticoagulation therapy for ≤ 3 months. In patients with Cushing disease, hemostatic parameters may even worsen after surgery, independent of surgical outcome; improvements begin ~3 months after successful surgery (Casonato ...