Endocrine Abstracts

Graves’ orbitopathy or thyroid-associated orbitopathy is the most frequent extrathyreoidal manifestation of Graves’ disease with autoimmun mechanism which is still incompletely understood. The epidemiologic data provided evidence that sever, infiltrative orbitopathy is in 3–5% of patients, the quality of life is impaired even in individuals with mild form of this disease. The anti-TSH receptor and anti-eye muscle autoantibodies have been proved to be involved in...

Objective: To evaluate the effect of selenium on autoimmune thyroid diseases through ATPO-titers.Material and methods: Selenium (0.1–0.2 mg/day) was associated to basic treatment of thyroid dysfunctions in 21 female patients with high ATPO-levels (normal<34 U/ml). We followed the thyroid function and ATPO-values usually after 2–6 months of selenium administration.Results: Ten hypo-thyroid patients had Hashimoto’s...

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of GH stimulation tests in multiple pituitary hormone deficiency (MPHD) and isolated GHD.Materials and methods: In 19 children with MPHD, we analysed the results of insulin tolerance test (ITT), clonidine and sleep tests, anthropometric parameters, IGF1, bone age, pituitary hormone levels±MRI. GH provocation tests were repeated after variable periods, mostly 6–24 months. The GH provocation tests were consi...

Aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) is obtained by measurements of plasma aldosterone (ALD) and either plasma renin activity (PRA) or direct renin concentration (DRC). The various gestogen components (desogestrel, DSG; gestoden, GD; drospirenon, DRSP) of the frequently used oral contraceptives (OC) can influence the ARRs differently. Aim of the study was to analyze the effect of OCs with different gestogens and low-dose estradiol component on ARRs (ALD/PRA versus ALD/DRC).<p cla...

Objective: To study the efficacy of lithium and perchlorate in special cases of hyperthyroidism: thioamide-resistant or iodine-induced thyroxicosis/thyrotoxic pre-crisis, hematological adverse effects of methimazole, leukopenia of other causes.Material and methods: Twenty-seven hyperthyroid patients received lithium carbonate and/or potassium perchlorate, majority after methimazole-therapy (associated with folic acid in leukopenia). We followed the clini...

Objective: To investigate whether three polymorphisms of the glucocorticoid receptor gene known to influence the sensitivity to glucocorticoids could be implicated in the pathomechanism of Graves’ orbitopathy.Methods: Allelic frequencies of the ER22/23EK, Bcl l and N363S polymorphisms of the glucocorticoid receptor gene were investigated in 99 patients with Graves’ orbitopathy (mean age, 47.8±13.4 years) and in 175 healthy individuals (mea...

Introduction: In vitro monolayer cell cultures are not able to faithfully model the biological features of the three dimensional (3D) structure of solid tumours. There are limited information about the applicability of 3D cell culturing methods for modeling of tumours of endocrine organs.Aim: The aim of our work was the establishment and characterization of three-dimensional in vitro models of various endocrine tumour cells in order to ...

Pheochromocytoma/paragangliomas (Pheo/PGL) are rare neuroendocrine cancers with strong genetic background. Mutations in the SDHB subunit of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) predispose to malignant disease with limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis. Novel prognostic markers and therapeutic targets are required to decrease the high mortality rate. Glutaminases play a crucial role in the metabolism of SDH impaired tumor cells. By using a host of cellular and molecu...

Avoiding vitamin D deficiency can be beneficial in prevention of adverse maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes. Because of increasing level of vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) in pregnancy, the determination of free-25OHD should be required, whose adequate measure is a challenge for the analytics. Literature data are contradictory whether total-or free-25OHD fraction is more reliable taking into consideration the methods of measurement. Data of publications on free or total, bi...

Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) based on routinely determined total-25-hydroxyvitaminD (t-25OHD) levels. The present knowledge is contradictory whether the direct measured free-25OHD (dm_f-25OHD) or the calculated free-25OHD (c_f-25OHD) is the best indicator of the vitamin D supply for CRF patients. Adding methods to our previously described first experiences on this subject, in this study we aimed to serve newer data to make this qu...