Endocrine Abstracts

Background: GH plays an important role in maintaining physiological morphology and function of the left ventricle (LV). In GH deficient (GHD) patients a systolic and/or diastolic LV dysfunction has been documented. LV systolic dysfunction results from reduced LV mass (LVM), which subsequently leads to a decrease of the LV ejection fraction (EF). Results from clinical trials evaluating the effect of GH replacement therapy on the morphological and functional changes of the LV in...

Acromegaly is a rare disease, which is mainly caused by benign tumour of the pituitary gland. Long-term presence of elevated growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels accompanying this disease is associated with rheumatologic, cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic complications. Cardiovascular complications of acromegaly include a cardiomyopathy, arterial hypertension, arrhytmias, valvulopathy as well as endothelial dysfunction. Cardiovascular disea...

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The serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (Sgk1) is a direct transcriptional target of glucocorticoids and is post-translationally activated by the insulin/IGF1 pathway. Distinct polymorphisms in the Sgk1 gene are associated with increased body weight and type 2 diabetes. Here we investigate the expression and regulation of Sgk1 in human obesity.In both omental and subcutaneous human adipose tissue, Sgk1 expression is significantly increased in 20...

The transcription factor and proto-oncogene GLI1 is the terminal mediator of the Hedgehog signalling pathway which is involved in developmental processes, stem cell maintenance and cell proliferation. Although the pathway is mainly active during embryogenesis and tissue repair, it is frequently reactivated in several cancer types.Based on these findings we investigated the potential role of GLI1 in the pathogenesis of pituitary adenomas. GLI1 expression ...

Introduction: The new guidelines for the management of hypothyroidism (HP) during pregnancy recommend a tighter treatment with levothyroxine (Lt4) to reach TSH values similar to those of pregnant women without thyroid dysfunction (TSH <2.5 mU/l in the 1st trimester-T- and TSH <3mu/l in the 2nd and 3rd T).Objectives: To assess the degree of control of HP in women followed during pregnancy according to the current criteria and the possible associat...

Spermatozoa are dependent on the proximal epididymis environment to complete their maturation. However, no single specific factor crucial for this process has been identified. Rnase9 and Rnase10 are expressed specifically in the murine proximal epididymis. Located on chromosome 14C1 only 28 kb apart, they do not show high homology with each other. An orthologue of both genes exist in the rat and human, and ‘Train A’ (porcine orthologue) is the most abun...

Background: Idiopathic scoliosis is a pathological entity of unknown etiology, characterized by a three-dimensional deformity of the spine and a low bone mass. The exact mechanism of bone loss in idiopathic scoliosis is unknown yet. However is well known that RANKL is a potent stimulator of bone resorption by binding receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB (RANK) in the osteoclasts cell membrane. OPG is a decoy receptor for RANKL, which interferes with RANKL/RANK binding and i...

Objective: To identify MetS and non-MetS in subjects with adult-onset GHD before start of GH replacement and to compare prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors.Subjects and methods: MetS was defined (IDF criteria) by the obligatory presence of increased waist circumference (WC) and presence of at least two of following components: hypertension, decreased HDL-cholesterol, increased triglycerides, diabetes mellitus. The complementary group was defined as...

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (IS) represents an evolutive disease that occurs in puberty and progresses till the skeletal maturation. The neuroendocrine hypothesis involving a melatonin deficiency as the source for IS is one of the proposed causes of this plurifactorial disease.Objective: To investigate the hormonal changes of both the gonadal and growth axis and circadian rhythmicity in subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis compared to age ma...