Endocrine Abstracts

Acromegaly is known to be associated to an increased cardiovascular risk, due to the increased prevalence of glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia and pre-atherosclerotic lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment with the GH receptor antagonist pegvisomant on cardiovascular risk and atherosclerosis in patients with acromegaly resistant to somatostatin analogues. Twelve patients (4 m, 8 f, 28–58 yrs) and 24 sex-, age- and BMI-matched controls en...

Dopamine agonists have been used as first or adjunctive therapy for acromegaly for many years, but relatively few studies have assessed the efficacy of a newer agonist, cabergoline (CAB) alone or in combination with somatostatin analogues (SSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combined treatment with SSA plus CAB in patients with acromegaly and resistance to SSA, defined as lack of normalization of IGF-I levels after long-term (>1 year) and hig...

Two medical therapies are now available for the treatment of acromegaly. Pegvisomant is a growth hormone (GH) receptor antagonist. Somatostatin analogues, in contrast, act by inhibiting the release of GH from the pituitary. The primary objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of pegvisomant (P) to that of octreotide LAR (LAR) in terms of IGF-1 normalisation. The secondary objective was to compare safety and tolerability between the two treatments.<p class="abste...

Introduction and Aim: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disease closely related to several risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Previous study demonstrated an impaired cardiopulmonary functional capacity in PCOS women. The present study was performed to evaluate the effects of 3-months exercise training (ET) programme on cardiopulmonary functional capacity in young women with PCOS.Patients and Methods: The study was conducted according...

Coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus (Covid-19) is associated with a variable clinical syndrome, ranging from a mild-moderate to a severe disease, progressing towards acute respiratory distress syndrome. Hypocortisolism is associated with a depletion of innate immunity and disruption of immune response, which could contribute to an increased risk of infection and development of a severe disease. Glucocorticoid (GC) replacement therapy(GCRT), especially if administere...

In the last years an increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been reported in young adults (18-45 yrs), probably accounted by the significant increase in CV risk (CVR) factors. Observational and interventional studies, mainly focused on middle-aged and elderly men, demonstrated that metabolic CVR (mCVR) factors and CVD manifestations are common in hypogonadal men and, conversely, testosterone deficiency is highly prevalent in metabolic disorders; the lack of ...

Adipose tissue is an endocrine organ releasing adipokines and expressing specific markers and intracellular mediators, which regulate whole-body energy by balancing lipid accumulation and utilization through adipogenesis, the differentiation of preadipocytes into mature adipocytes associated with gradual lipid storage, and lipogenesis, the additional lipid accumulation in mature adipocytes. Adipogenesis and lipogenesis, strongly induced by insulin, occur in white adipocytes, s...

Sleep apnea (SA) is a common acromegaly comorbidity, influencing patients’ quality of life and mortality risk. Despite its importance, SA frequently remains undiagnosed, and its real prevalence seems to be underestimated. The current observational study aimed at investigating the role of Berlin questionnaire (BQ) and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) in assessing the risk of SA in this high-risk population, and to compare the results with an age-and gender-matched health coh...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by menstrual irregularities and clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism, and is associated with insulin resistance, visceral obesity and metabolic disorders. The aim of the current study was to compare the effects of inositol isomers (INO) and metformin (MET) on the clinical, metabolic and hormonal aspects of PCOS. In 94 PCOS women, clinical (weight, BMI, waist circumference - WC, menstrual intervals, Ferriman-Gallway score -...

Obesity, characterized by an abnormal body fat accumulation mainly caused by a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, is a massive public health problem. Targeting excessive fat deposition in adipose tissue and ectopic fat accumulation in skeletal muscle through promoting lipid oxidation pathway may represent a promising strategy to counteract obesity. This study aims at investigating the effects of cabergoline (CAB), a dopamine agonist, on adipose and skelet...