Endocrine Abstracts

Case historyA 27 year-old woman presents with a right 3 cm. papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) with lateral cervical lymph node metastasis. Her past history is irrelevant. Treatment consists of total thyroidectomy plus lymphadenectomy of compartments II-III-IV-VI. iPTH and s-Ca concentrations at 24 h were 6 pg/ml and 7 mg/dl respectively. Replacement therapy (calcium + calcitriol) was required for three months (protracted hypoparathyroidism). Pathology r...

Hypoparathyroidism is, in Italy, an orphan disease because the hormonal replacement therapy is possible only with teriparatide (fragment 1–34 of of human parathyroid hormone). Otherwise the patients use oral calcium and calcitriol. This scheme of therapy obtained correct plasmatic calcium and phosphate levels, correct urinary excretion of calcium and phosphate, adequate quality of life – QoL only in a little percentage of patients. Especially kidney stones, intra-ren...

Background: Cushing’s syndrome is defined as a hormonal disorder resulting from elevated serum cortisol leading to specific physical and biochemical abnormalities that might be detrimental to life itself. Majority is caused by steroid intake while endogenous sources although representing only a minority of patients often lead to delay in diagnosis. Ectopic ACTH syndrome considered a rare entity are usually found as small cell lung cancer and carcinoid tumors. Rare types o...

The prevalence of antithyroid autoantibodies in pregnant women ranges between 6 and 10%, like in the general population. PPT, a syndrome of transient or permanent thyroid dysfunction occurring in the first year after delivery, is associated with the presence of TPO in gestation. The prevalence varies from 5 to 10%, with higher frequency in patients with DM1. The aim of this study is to estimate TPO frequency during gestation and its relationship with PPT in a group of women wi...

Introduction: Increased plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in response to acute hypoglycemia have been well documented. Counter-regulatory hormones are likely to play a role in this inflammatory response.Objective: To study the interaction between IL-6 and counter-regulatory hormones during hypoglycemic stress.Methods: We conducted an exploratory single center study involving 23 patients (mean age = 34.15 ± 8.87 years, ...

Somatostatin (SS) receptors (SSR) expression may be modulated by estrogens in breast cancer cells. Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of estradiol (E2) on SSR levels in prostate epithelial cells (PEC).Methods: We investigated the effects of E2 and SS-analogue SOM230 combined treatment on two PEC lines: EPN that expresses both ERalfa and beta and CPEC, showing no ERalfa and very low ERbeta expression. Cells starved in red ...

Antipituitary antibodies (APA) are frequently present in patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome (APS) but their role in predicting autoimmune hypophysitis (LYH) is still discussed.To evaluate the predictive value of APA investigated by immunofluorescence for the occurrence of pituitary autoimmune dysfunction when considering together some methodological characteristics as immunostaining pattern and antibody titers, we studied 149 APA positive an...

Background: Guidelines suggest treating paraphilias with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). However little evidence is available about the long-term impact on bone and how to manage this adverse event.Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of ADT on bone mass and bone mineral density (BMD) in men treated for hypersexuality with cyproterone acetate (CPA) and GnRH agonists (GnRHa), and to evaluate the effect of treatment with bisphosphonates.<...

Introduction: Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) requires an accurate diagnosis, patient-tailored treatments and long-term management. To define the unmet needs of patients with CS, a consensus among a panel of Italian endocrinologists was promoted. The panel involved 57 specialists with expertise in CS management.Methods: The endocrinologists were identified by convenience sampling. The survey was built around a set of statements formulated after literature r...

Background: The recognition of the erectile dysfunction (ED) pathogenesis is essential to identify the appropriate ED management. Since vascular ED (vED) could be a manifestation of a systemic arterial damage, the watershed in the ED diagnostic framework is the discrimination between psychological (pED) and vED. However, reliable tools to directly diagnose pED are currently lacking.Aim of the study: To identify which parameters could predict pED. Moreove...