Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid nodules (TN) are the most common endocrine disorder present in 10 – 67% of adults, with a malignancy risk of 3 – 15%. Sonoelastography (SE) is a novel ultrasound technique providing information on elasticity of TN. Decreased elasticity proved to be a useful predictor of malignancy. SE cannot be regarded as a substitute for fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), but should rather be considered as a complementary tool facilitating estimation of TN malignancy ris...

Introduction: Irisin is a recently reported adipo-myokine. To date, many researchers underline its significant influence on the body metabolism and thermogenesis. Secreted by muscle and adipose tissue irisin promotes a program of subcutaneous white adipose tissue ‘browning’. As a result, heat production and general energy expenditure raise. Irisin is considered to be a potential mediator of the health-promoting role of physical exercises. Its possible compensatory ro...

Introduction: An accurate identification of affected parathyroid is crucial for implementation of mini-invasive surgery techniques and therefore reduction of complication rate. A few centers postulate measuring washout parathormone (PTH)concentrationin suspected lesions, despite lack of established cut-off point for concentration values and validated measurement methods. Thisprospective study aimed to compare washout PTH assessment vs MIBI scintiscan in terms of efficacy in lo...

Background: Selenium (Se) sufficiency is beneficial for thyroid metabolism and pregnancy course due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. As a part of selenoenzymes, it ameliorates autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) progression in mothers and provides proper neurogenesis in fetuses. Despite lacking or conflicting recommendations for its supplementation in pregnancy, Se is used in a clinical setting, as a common constituent of multivitamin pregnancy diet supplemen...

Introduction: Hepcidin is a reactive inflammatory protein, responsible for ferrum homeostasis. Its concentration was already measured in hyperthyroiditis in the course of Graves disease and after restoration of euthyroidism, but also in growth hormone deficiency, hyperprolactinemia, however no significant changes were noted. De Quervain thyroiditis is a rare type of subacute thyroid inflammation, caused by interplay of unknown infectious, genetic and autoimmune factors and res...

Introduction: Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a reliable, objective and reproducible technique in sonographic assessment of tissue stiffness. It is considered to be an improvement of conventional ultrasonographic examination. It was demonstrated to be useful in the diagnosis of many thyroid disorders, such as thyroid cancer, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Graves’ disease. The aim of our study was to check if SWE can be supportive in the diagnosis of primary hyperparathy...

Introduction: Hepcidin is an acute-phase protein and a key regulator of iron homeostasis. Anemia frequently occurs in patients with hyperthyroidism, while hepcidin may be a potential link.Objectives: Prospective evaluation of hepcidin serum concentration and other parameters related to Fe homeostasis in group of hyperthyroid patients in the course of Graves’ disease (GD) at diagnosis and after restoration of euthyroidism.Pati...

Introduction: The diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is often challenging and requires the use of several diagnostic methods. Late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) offers an easy, non-invasive screening method for CS. However, its availability is still limited and the cut-off values vary widely between laboratories. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of LNSC for CS in comparison with late-night serum cortisol (LNSerC) and 24-hour urinary free cortiso...

Background: Immuglobulin 4 (IgG4) is the least common subtype of Immoglobulin G. However due to its unique characteristic it has been the focal point of many research projects, which eventualy led to the discovery of the sytemic fibro-inflammatory disorder called IgG4-Related Disease. The potential role of IgG4 in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases has been also suggested. However, the amount of evidence is still limited, especially in Graves Disease (GD).<p c...

Introduction: Severe thyroid disorders are usually associated with myopathy. Muscle weakness may occur in both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. However, only hypothyroid patients experience increase in creatine kinase levels, depicting destruction of muscle fibers. There were recently some reports showing the lowering in serum concentrations of large sarcomere proteins – titin (TTN) and dystrophin (DMD) in patients with hypo- and hyperthyroidism....