Endocrine Abstracts

Although generally benign, pituitary tumors frequently present local invasiveness that strongly reduces neurosurgery success. We recently demonstrated a role for the actin binding protein cofilin in promoting non functioning pituitary tumors invasiveness and an inhibitory effect of dopamine receptor type 2. Somatostatin (SS) receptor type 2 (SSTR2) is the main target of pharmacological therapy of GH-secreting pituitary tumors, reducing both GH secretion and cell proliferation,...

Background: Hypothalamic-pituitary function and adipose tissue are deeply interconnected. Obesity has been linked to morpho-functional changes in several endocrine glands (thyroid, adrenal, gonads). No study has quantified the appearance of the pituitary gland in obese subjects.Aim: To measure pituitary signal intensity, homogeneity and texture of the pituitary gland at magnetic resonance (MR) in obese subjects free of focal pituitary disease.<p clas...

Current lifestyle, characterized by physical inactivity and a poor diet, is heavily linked with an increased incidence of metabolic diseases. One of the most serious silent co-morbidities of those diseases is infertility. The hormonal link between food intake and energy homeostasis is mediated by the leptin ghrelin axis. Compelling evidence suggests that direct leptin’s action regulates cellular glucose homeostasis and mitochondrial biogenesis. We have recently shown that...

Low testosterone (T) levels are often found in obese men with metabolic abnormalities, however the mechanism underling this condition is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (CC) in increasing T levels and improving metabolic control in hypogonadal obese men with IGT or DM2. A randomized cross-over double blind controlled study was conducted in twenty obese hypogonadal caucasian men, mean age 47 ys, classified in IGT (n=11) or ...

Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs) comprise a spectrum of neoplasms, ranging from low grade carcinoids to the highly malignant small cell lung cancers. Several studies identified cytoskeleton protein Filamin A (FLNA) as determinant in cancer progression and metastasis. To date, the role of FLNA in PNTs aggressiveness and progression is still unknown.To address this question, we decided: i) to evaluate FLNA expression in PNTs ranging from typical carc...

Introduction: Hyperaldosteronism usually presents with hypertension and hypokalemia; however, there is recent evidence of a relationship with the parathyroid hormone. There are different theories to try to explain this relationship. Hyperaldosteronism treatment is medical or surgical depending upon etiology. We present three cases in which treatment solely for hyperaldosteronism also cured hyperparathyroidism.Materials and methods: We report three patien...

Though LC-MS/MS is replacing immunoassays for major glucocorticoids and androgens routine assessment, the measurement of other sex steroids and precursors is still challenging and available only in experienced research laboratories. Our aim was to develop a simple-prep and rapid 2D-LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous measurement of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17OHpregnenolone.Serum volumes of 300ul were spiked with intern...

Introduction: We have previously reported on the considerable variability in ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas in terms of responses to major modulators in vitro (Pecori Giraldi et al J. Neuroendocrinol. 2011). Further studies revealed also differences in gene expression profiles in specimens analyzed by microarray analysis. Aim of this study is to correlate transcriptome expression pattern in archival human ACTH-secreting adenomas with clinical features of patients p...

Introduction: The possible change in the pattern of hormonal secretion by pituitary tumours is a very intriguing issue indeed, notably in the case of corticotroph-cell adenomas.Methods/design: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1259 consecutive endoscopic endonasal surgical procedures for pituitary adenomas from 1998 to 2013. Of these, 132 were ACTH-secreting adenomas associated with Cushing’s disease (CD) and 44 were silent corticotroph-cel...

Steroid profiling by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) offers an accurate and simultaneous detection of a panel of steroids with several advantages over traditional assays. However, only a few studies have investigated the steroid profiling in sporadic adrenocortical adenomas. Our aim was therefore to investigate steroid secretion by LC–MS/MS in patients with non-secreting adrenocortical adenomas (NSA) and subclinical hypercortisolism (SH...