Endocrine Abstracts

Somatostatin analogues (SA) are known to revert acromegalic cardiomyopathy mainly in young patients with short disease duration, whereas pegvisomant (PEG) reportedly improves cardiac structure and performance in patients resistant to SA. To date, no data are available on the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiovascular complications. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of long-term SA+PEG on cardiac structure and performance in acromegaly. Thirty-six acromega...

In patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment is often required to replace cortisol deficiency and to avoid the ACTH-dependent androgen levels increase. However, in these patients, the multiple daily doses required with conventional GCs can cause cortisol overexposure, leading to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), an impaired quality of life (QoL), and poor treatment compliance (TC). T...

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare cancer with poor prognosis and scant treatment options. Mitotane alone, or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, represents the referral current treatment for patients with unresectable ACC. Recent studies have shown that mTOR inhibitors suppress growth of ACC cells. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of mitotane in combination with mTOR inhibitors. In H295 and SW13 cells we tested the effects of a 6 day treatment with increa...

Somatostatin analogs (SSA) effectively control symptoms in neuroendocrine tumours (NET), besides showing antiproliferative activity. In progressive or metastatic NET, increasing SSA dose or shortening the dosing interval are common clinical practice, though empirical. Aim of this study is to evaluate efficacy and safety of high-dose SSA treatment in patients with progressive disease under standard SSA dose. Twenty-one patients (median age 56.8 years) with NET of different orig...

The mTOR and IGF/insulin pathways are frequently dysregulated in HCC. Antitumoral activity of mTOR inhibitors (mTORi) has been demonstrated in experimental models but in early clinical studies mTORi alone have shown modest antitumoral activity. IGF/insulin-dependent Akt activation, via IGF1R and IR, has been suggested as potential mechanism for mTORi resistance. This study aimed at evaluating the expression of mTOR and IGF/insulin pathway components and the effects of mTORi al...

Life-long glucocorticoid (GC) treatment is needed in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency in order to replace cortisol deficiency and to control ACTH and consequently androgen levels. Therefore, patients with CAH tend to have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MS), probably due to cortisol overexposure, caused by multiple daily doses of conventional GCs, unable to mimic cortisol circadian rhythm. The current study aimed at i...

Introduction: Recent data suggest that metformin has antineoplastic properties in different type of cancer. Effects of metformin have never been investigated in neuroendocrine tumors (NET).We aim to determine the role of metformine on recurrence-free survival (RFS) in NET patients.Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted comparing NET patients with recent diagnosis (<3 year) of diabetes mellitus (with HbA1c...

Generously supported by IPSEN)-->Hyperprolactinemia is reportedly associated with impaired metabolic profile, particularly in patients with concomitant hypogonadism. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of 12 and 24 month-continuous cabergoline (CAB) treatment on metabolic profile in male hyperprolactinemic patients. Thirty-two men with prolactinomas, including 22 with testosterone < 8 nmol/l (HG, 69%) and 10 with...

Background: Several evidences suggested that conventional glucocorticoids (CGCs) used as replacement treatment in adrenal insufficiency (AI) are inadequate to mimic physiological cortisol circadian rhythm (CCR), and that CCR disruption, represented by non-physiological pattern of peaks and troughs and elevated evening GC levels, might be responsible for the increased metabolic and, consequently, cardiovascular risk. It has been demonstrated that once daily dual-release-hydroco...

Obesity is caused by an imbalance between dietary energy intake and expenditure. The expression of dopamine receptors (DRs) in human adipocytes has been already demonstrated. Moreover, the effects of cabergoline, a dopamine agonist, on body weight and glucose homeostasis in obese subjects without hyperprolactinemia has already been reported. The current study investigates the effects of cabergoline on lipid accumulation and on adipogenic factors expression to better define the...