Endocrine Abstracts

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a class of rare and heterogeneous neoplasms derived from the neuroendocrine system. Animal models are indispensable tools for investigating the pathogenesis, mechanisms for tumour invasion and metastasis and new therapeutic approaches for cancer. Unfortunately, only few models are available for NETs, probably due to the rarity and heterogeneity of this group of neoplasms. The tropical teleost zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a popular vertebrate mode...

Objective: Recent papers reported that basal calcitonin (CT) level may be related to thyroid volume. This study aims to evaluate if this finding is confirmed in patients undergoing ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for thyroid nodules.Design: Retrospective university-center study.Methods: From February 2010 to September 2012, 561 patients underwent ultrasonography-guided FNAC and a complete evaluation in...

Biochemical control of acromegaly is currently defined by the achievement of GH suppression after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and of normal age- and gender-matched IGF1 levels. OGTT is believed to inhibit somatotropin secretion by enhancing central somatostatinergic tone; thus, the use of this test in evaluating biochemical control in acromegalic patients on somatostatin analogues (SSA) is questionable. To gain further insights into this topic, we analyzed basal and nad...

Introduction: Cells with stem-like properties have been reported in benign and malignant thyroid diseases, and can be propagated by culturing them as non-adherent spheres.Design: Aim of the present study was to widely characterize the stem-like cells in tumor and normal thyroid tissues and in the corresponding in vitro-cultured thyrospheres, and to investigate in vivo the proangiogenic potential of thyrospheres in a zebrafish model....

Introduction: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is a well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor in which somatostatin receptor (sst) expression is higher for sst1 and sst5 than for sst2. This may explain why the available sst2–selective analogues do not work in these patients and why pasireotide (SOM230), a novel, multi-receptor targeted somatostatin analogue with high-binding affinity for sst1,2,3 and sst5 coul...

Introduction: Previous data from our group suggested a role for the GH/IGF1 axis in the pathophysiology of osteoporosis in thalassemia (Clin Endocrinol 69:202, 2008). The present study was aimed at evaluating the relationships between circulating IGFs and bone metabolism and density in a very large series of adult thalassemic patients.Study design: One hundred and thirty-nine patients affected by thalassemia major (mean age 32.3±7.87 years) underwen...

The intensive physical activity is often associated with cardiac changes, particularly involving the right ventricular (RV) chamber. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the RV physiologic adaptation to long-term training are not completely understood. In the present study we investigated the role of the growth hormone/insulin like growth factor 1 (GH/IGF-1) axis in the RV remodeling of athletes.Nineteen male top levels rowers and 19 age-matched...

Background: Articular and psychological complications of acromegaly are known to impair patients’ quality of life (QoL). The aims of this study are: (1) to look for clinical predictors for the progression of the articular and psychological complications, (2) to evaluate the progression of these complications in relation to the activity of the acromegalic disease, and (3) to evaluate how these complications interact to impair the QoL.Material and Met...

Background: Invasive nonfunctioning (NF) pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are non-resectable neoplasms associated to frequent relapse and significant comorbidities. As current treatments often fail against NF-PitNETs, identifying actionable therapeutic targets is essential. We focused on the angiopoietin-2 (Angpt2)/Tie2 axis, usually active in endothelial cells (ECs).Methods: ANGPT2 plasma levels in NF-PitNET patients and healthy controls were m...

Introduction: While searching for mechanisms contributing to the increased mortality of acromegaly, we have previously described an unexpected sympathoinhibition in newly diagnosed patients (Seravalle et al., Clin Endocrinol 77:262, 2012) and interpreted this finding as an adaptive phenomenon. It has also been shown that centrally administered somatostatin (SS) inhibits peripheral sympathetic outflow in rodents (Rettig et al., Am J Physiol 257:R588, 1989). Ba...