Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Presence of venous vascular invasion is a criterion of intermediate risk of recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the presence and type of vascular invasion (lymphatic or venous) is often underreported and its impact on PTCs without other risk features remains unknown.Objective: To evaluate the impact of both lymphatic and venous invasion on the risk of recurrence/persistence on otherwise low-risk PTCs.<p class="abstex...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones, products of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Synthetic GCs, such as dexamethasone, have been widely used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or asthma, but their long-term use causes severe side effects (osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, etc). The ligand-bound GC receptor (GR) can activate gene expression via binding to GC response elements (GREs), a mechanism known as transactiva...

Pituitary adenomas consist of a group of highly heterogeneous intracranial tumours with variable presentation, clinical prognosis and management. High throughput sequencing was used in order to try and identify common de-regulated pathways and characterize tumours according to specific molecular behaviour. RNA sequencing (RNAseq) was chosen since it provides not only information regarding the expression profile but also the mutational load of each specific tumour analysed. 58 ...

Introduction: The sequelae of surgically treated non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) is an important area of study to help plan management. The aim was to study all Maltese patients who had a surgically treated NFPA and analyse the results of surgery, risk factors for tumour recurrence/regrowth and the role of postoperative radiotherapy.Materials and methods: One hundred and seventy-five patients were identified as having a NFPA of whom 77 had unde...

Background: CTLA-4 polymorphisms have been widely examined for their associations with autoimmune thyroid diseases (Graves’ disease [GD] and Hashimoto thyroiditis [HT]) but their relative population effect remains unclear.Methodology/Principal findings: Meta-analyses of group-level data from 32 (n=11.019 subjects) and 12 (n=4.479) published and unpublished studies were performed for the association of the A49G polymorphism with ...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are used to treat inflammatory diseases because they downregulate expression of numerous inflammatory mediators. This is at least partly achieved through functional interference of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) with transcription factors such as NF-κB (transrepression). On the other hand, activation of transcription by GR is responsible for some of the side effects of GCs. Efforts to improve the safety profile of GCs are focused on the identificat...

Background: The psychopathology of children and young people with Turner Syndrome (45,X; TS) has been well-documented. But these studies have never assessed neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD; autistic/attention-hyperactivity) alongside emotional and conduct disorders. The last extensive study of mental health assessed a narrow range of psychopathologies and excluded under 16s. This study aims to comprehensively examine mental health, NDD and social skills in TS from childhood ...

Background: Turner Syndrome (TS) is a sex chromosome aneuploidy (45,X) associated with social skill difficulties. The 2016 Cincinnati clinical care guidelines recommend that the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) social skills intervention is piloted. PEERS has previously been used in face to face interventions with male adolescents with autism spectrum conditions. This pilot project will be the first to examine the feasibility and acceptabil...

Phaeochromocytoma/paragangliomas (PPGLs) are relatively rare tumours and the health burden of such tumours is not very well known.Aim: This population based study aims to characterise all the phaeochromocytomas, paragangliomas and adrenal medullary hyperplasia diagnosed between 2007 and 2016 in Malta; looking into presentation, hormonal analysis, imaging characteristics and histology findings.Results: 16 ...

Phaeochromocytoma/paragangliomas (PPGLs) are relatively rare tumours and the health burden of such tumours is not very well known.Aim: This population based study aims to characterise all the phaeochromocytomas, paragangliomas and adrenal medullary hyperplasia diagnosed between 2007 and 2016 in Malta; looking into presentation, hormonal analysis, imaging characteristics and histology findings.Results: 16 ...