Endocrine Abstracts

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...

Hypothyroidism has been traditionally described as a frequent endocrine complication of thalassemic children: in these patients hypothyroidism is mainly of primary origin and not linked to autoimmunity (Mariotti et al., Pediatr Endocrinol Rev 2011). Fewer data are available on the prevalence and nature of this complication in adult age thalassemia. Therefore, we elected to evaluate thyroid function and autoimmunity in a large series of adult patients.<p class="abs...