Endocrine Abstracts

It is known that patients with prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose) ant type 2 diabetes (T2D) have micro-and macrovascular complications. It may be assumed that vascular changes begin in the smallest vessels that leads to microcirculation abnormalities.Purpose: To estimate microcirculation abnormalities in patients with prediabetes and T2D and concomitant atherosclerosis.Materials and methods: One h...

‘Androgen replacement therapy’ is a term loosely used in the medical and lay literature, however in the context of this discussion it will be limited to the use of testosterone as a pharmacotherapy. Furthermore, whether the term ‘hypogonadal’ includes naturally menopausal women can also be considered contentious, as the postmenopausal ovary is an ongoing source of sex steroids and thus in the strictest terms such women are not necessarily hypogonadal. Indee...

There is an association between high LDL-Ch levels and cardiovascular disease in T2DM patients. Clinical trials have shown that reduction of LDL-Ch with statins has a beneficial effect on macrovascular complications in patients with T2DM, but is this a relevant effect in clinical practice? LAF has a slower absorption, longer action time and less side effects than other statins.Objective: To assess in clinical practice, the effect of LAF on LDL-Ch and the...

Introduction: Finding the cause of gynecomastia and galactorrhea can be challenging, hence one of the most important cornerstones is detailed case history. Hereby we present gynecomastia and galactorrhea case, caused by drug abuse.Case: A 24-year-old male, 3 years suffering from gynecomastia and galactorrhea, came for an endocrinologist consultation in 2020. As known from documentation laboratory blood results, lungs X-ray and abdominal ultrasound did no...

Background: A major challenge in the management of breast cancer (BC) is the search for biomarkers that are sensitive and less invasive. miRNAs are reported to be tissue-specific, stable and aberrantly expressed in different tumours, hence their emerging role as potential biomarkers in BC management.Objective: The study focused on developing an in-house method for the detection of mir-145 and mir-21 using SYBR Gre...

Background: A major challenge in the management of breast cancer (BC) is the search for biomarkers that are sensitive and less invasive. miRNAs are reported to be tissue-specific, stable and aberrantly expressed in different tumours, hence their emerging role as potential biomarkers in BC management.Objective: The study focused on developing an in-house method for the detection of mir-145 and mir-21 using SYBR Gre...

Actions of the stress hormone, glucocorticoid (GC), are essential for the modulation of implicated biological processes such as synaptic transmission. In disease paradigms that feature a hormone hyper-secretion phenotype (e.g. neurocognitive disorders), the normalcy of receptor signaling is compromised.The pro-cognate role of Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) inhibition via hormone analogues bearing anti-glucocorticoid properties is well described. A key exam...

Background: We have previously demonstrated that the natriuretic peptides BNP and NT-proBNP rise with ascent to high altitude (HA). Both peptides are classically markers of congestive cardiac failure but have also recently been found to be associated with pulmonary hypertension at sea-level (SL). As pulmonary hypertension is central to the risk of high altitude pulmonary oedema we aimed to establish if there was any association between high pulmonary artery systolic pressure (...

Men living at high altitudes in Peru compared to sea level counterparts have erythrocytosis (Hemoglobin: 16–21 g/dl) or excessive erythrocytosis (Hemoglobin>21 g/dl). High testosterone (T) levels in men at high altitude (HA) were associated with excessive erythrocytosis. High androgen levels could be due to a low aromatase activity or to an elevated rate of conversion from precursors to testosterone. The aim of this study was to evaluate aromatase activity and rate of...

Introduction: An increasing notion suggests that aldosterone contributes to the development and progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Experimental studies documented an upregulation of cellular adhesion molecules, which are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, after administration of aldosterone. However, evidence for an association between circulating aldosterone levels and soluble cellular adhesion molecules in humans is sparse.<p class="...