Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pegvisomant (PEGV) has an efficacy of >90% to control insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), however in everyday practice a limited efficacy of 63% was reported.Aim: To assess efficacy in the largest single center cohort of acromegalics using PEGV.Methods: A 112 subjects (65 male) were not controlled with high-dose somatostatin analogues (LA-SRIF) for at least 6 months. To control acromegaly, 109 subjects added PEGV ...

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity is still increasing and is accompanied by significant health problems. High exposure to glucocorticoids, including the stress hormone cortisol, has been suggested to play a role in the development of obesity and associated cardiometabolic derangements. We previously showed that obese persons are exposed to high long-term cortisol levels as measured in scalp hair. It is not known whether these elevated cortisol levels decrease with weight...

Introduction: The steroidogenesis inhibitors ketoconazole and metyrapone are frequently used for treatment of Cushing’s syndrome, but can cause side effects. LCI699 is a known 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor, but effects on other steroidogenic enzymes are unknown. We aimed to compare effects of LCI699, ketoconazole, and metyrapone in vitro.Methods: HAC-15 cells, with or without 10 nM ACTH, and three primary human adrenocortical adenoma cultu...

Introduction: Maternal thyroid hormone during early pregnancy is important for proper fetal growth and development. Thyroid hormone receptors are widely expressed in placental tissue. Interestingly, thyroid dysfunction and suboptimal placental function have both been associated with pregnancy complications including preeclampsia, premature delivery and fetal growth restriction. First, we studied the association of the maternal thyroid and placental function and second, we inve...

Background: Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is caused by overproduction of cortisol. Current first-line screening tests for CS can produce false positive results due to medication use and stress, rely heavily on patient adherence to sampling instructions, and only measure short-term cortisol exposure which limits sensitivity. In general multiple tests are required to establish a diagnosis. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) offer a minimally invasive way to measure lon...

Background: Childhood obesity is an increasing health problem, affecting over 40 million children aged 0–5 years worldwide. It is associated with premature onset of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Pathologically elevated cortisol is known to induce obesity and cardio-metabolic complications, suggesting cortisol is implicated in the onset of obesity. Indeed, recent pilot-studies showed an increase in hair cortisol concentrations in obese adults and adoles...

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy with 177Lu-octreotate (PRRT) for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC).Background: There are few therapeutic options for progressive metastatic MTC. The Erasmus MC Center for Neuroendocrine Tumors has been at the forefront of developing PRRT for neuroendocrine tumors. PRRT has also been suggested to be a useful treatment for MTC, but evidence is very limited.<p class="...

Introduction: Adequate thyroid hormone availability during early life is crucial for normal child growth and development. Fetal growth in utero heavily depends on angiogenesis. Placental growth factor (PlGF) is a proangiogenic factor sharing high homology with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) whereas soluble FMS-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1) is a potent antagonist of VEGF and PlGF signaling. Since the thyroid is a highly vascularized organ, we hypothesized t...

Objectives: During prenatal neurodevelopment, maternal-to-fetal thyroxine (T4) transfer is critical, particularly during the first half of pregnancy when the fetal thyroid gland is immature. Transcellular transport of thyroid hormones (TH) is facilitated by TH transporters. Monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) is a specific TH transporter that is crucial for transport of TH with a prominent expression at the blood-brain barrier. MCT8 deficiency is a rare disorder consisting of...