Endocrine Abstracts

Background: red blood cells (RBC) membrane fluidity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can be influenced by various factors like oxidative stress, aging, glycosylation, lipid homeostasis and exposure to nutrients.Objective: To analyze RBC membrane fluidity in patients with long-duration T2DM (more than 10 years), looking for any differences between patients without and with macroangiopathy (vascular diabetic foot).Met...

Introduction: In 2004, the WHO defined atypical pituitary adenomas (APAs) those with Ki-67 >3%, excessive p53 expression and increased mitotic activity. The usefulness of this classification is still controversial.Aim: To compare the clinical and prognostic features in a series of typical and atypical pituitary adenomas.Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 343 consecutive PAs. APAs represented 18.7% of the cases. ...

Background: Cell membrane fluidity of erythrocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes can be influenced by glycosylation processes, changes in lipid homeostasis and oxidative stress.Objectives: We have measured red blood cell membrane fluidity looking for differences between healthy people and diabetic subjects and also between diabetic patients affected by macroangiopathy (vascular diabetic foot) and not.Methods: We have enrolled 32...

Aim: To evaluate calcium and bone metabolism in a monocentric series of acromegaly patients (pts), treated with pegvisomant (PEG) alone or in association to long acting somatostatine analogs.Patients and methods: All pts with at least 24 consecutive months PEG treatment (alone or in combination with SSA) were enrolled. All pts had been tested at least twice/year for biochemical acromegaly-disease evaluation and annually for calcium metabolism and for bon...

The IGF1 response to recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) showed some individual variability and the responsible factors for this behavior remain unknown. Some studies have emphasized the possible role of isoforms of the GH receptor (GHR), showing conflicting results.Therefore, we investigated the possible influence of the isoforms of the GHR to the diagnosis of GHD and in determining adult hormone replacement therapy responsiveness.<p class="abst...

Introduction: The main goal in the treatment of acromegaly is achieving biochemical and tumor mass control. Therapeutic options include surgery, medical treatment and, in selected cases, radiotherapy. A GH receptor (GHR) variant that differs for the genomic retention or exclusion (d3GHR) of exon 3 is present in about 50% of general population and its presence is related to a greater sensitivity to GH.Materials and methods: We describe a series of 118 pat...

Clinical trials have demonstrated that pegvisomant therapy is highly efficacious, normalizing serum IGF-I levels in the majority of patients with acromegaly. Multiple factors could influence the dose of pegvisomant required to normalize IGF-I, that ranging from 10 to 40 mg/day. However, the determinants of this variability are unknown and, to date, there is no specific recommendation to adjust the dose to the type of patient. Lack of exon 3 of the Growth Hormone receptor (d3-G...

Myelolipomas are rare benign tumours resulting from myeloid and adipose mature cells proliferation, both elements have a clonal origin from a common precursor. Myelolipomas predominantly involve the adrenal gland but may develop in extra-adrenal sites. They are hormonally inactive but may coexist with active diseases such as adrenogenital syndrome. They are often asymptomatic but rarely they cause symptoms due to their size or spontaneous retroperitoneal haemorrhage. The myelo...