Endocrine Abstracts

Adult GHD patients may have reduced BMD, which is thought to be reverted by long-term rhGH replacement therapy. We have recently reported high prevalence of vertebral osteoporotic deformities in untreated adult GHD patients. Gonadal status is the main determinant of bone loss in patients with primary form of osteoporosis.In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whether the prevalence and degree of spinal deformities in adults with treated or untrea...

Background: Primary empty sella (ES) can be asymptomatic or associated with endocrine and neurological alterations, such as visual defects. Studies in a large number of patients is still lacking.Objective: To study visual deficit in ES and its relationship with hormonal status.Material and Methods: We recorded visual evoked potentials (VEP) by white/black, red/black, blue/black patterns. Isoluminance between red and blue checks all...

IntroductionPrimary autoimmune hypophysitis (PAHs) is a rare inflammatory disease of the pituitary gland. Although largely investigated, the pathogenesis of PAH is not completely clarified. We aimed to investigate the immune response in PAHs.Material and methodsSerum anti-pituitary and anti-hypothalamus antibodies (respectively APAs and AHAs) were investigated though an indirect immunofluorescence on monkey h...

Introduction: First-generation SRL (fg-SRL) represent the treatment of choice in acromegaly patients with post-neurosurgical adenomatous remnant and GH-hypersecretion. Anyway, approximately 60% of patients do not achieve adequate disease control. The main predictors of resistance include male sex, young age, invasiveness of the lesion and its hyperintensity on T2-weighted MRI scans; but also, SSTR2 expression, the cytokeratin pattern, Ki-67 and the presence of AIP gene mutatio...

Introduction: Acromegaly patients (ACRO) show increased morbidity that affects health and quality of life (QoL). Elderly ACRO are going to increase in the next few years, but evidence regarding their management is lacking.Aim: To evaluate physical, functional and cognitive performances of elderly ACRO and the relationship with QoL.Methods: Multicenter case-control study conducted on 42 older ACRO (≥ 65 years) compared to an a...

Introduction: Literature has already described some cases of hypophysitis related to acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2). The pituitary is indeed target for the virus due to the angiotensin-converting-enzyme-2 expression. Hypophysitis patients present with mass effect and pituitary dysfunction related symptoms. ACTH and TSH deficiencies are the most reported, along with central diabetes insipidus (CDI). The best way to manage these hypophysitis is still undefi...

Introduction: Somatotropinomas are benign pituitary tumors with heterogeneous biological and clinical behavior. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is an environment generated by the interaction between tumor cells and the host immune system. It affects both the behavior of the tumor and the outcome of the therapy. The GNAS gene encodes the alpha subunit of G proteins associated with hormone receptors such as TSH, PTH, GHRH, FSH/lH, ACTH. Mutation of this gene has been associated...

Somatotropinomas are benign pituitary tumors, with a heterogenous biological and clinical behavior. Tumor microenvironment reflects the interaction between tumor cells and the host immune system and may regulate tumor behavior and therapy outcome. We develop a scoring system that includes clinical, pathological and immune markers to early identify fg-SRLs resistant acromegaly pts. 43 acromegaly pts were included according the following criteria (1) first line treatment with su...

Acromegaly is associated with skeletal fragility and an increased prevalence of vertebral fractures (VF). In recent years several authors have tried to investigate the markers that can predict the risk of bone fragility in this endocrine disorder. Two different isoforms of the GH receptor (GHR) have been described so far, which differ in the presence or absence of a transcript of exon 3 of the GHR gene. Both isoforms produce a functional receptor, but the exon 3-deleted isofor...

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) accounts for 1%–2% of thyroid cancers and has a variable clinical course. MTCs present with locoregional metastasis in 50% of patients and distant metastasis in 10% to 15% at the time of initial diagnosis. The lungs, liver, and bone are common metastatic sites, and distant metastasis is known to be a poor prognostic factor for long-term oncologic outcomes. We present the long course case, under somatostatin analogues (SSA) therapy, of a 7...