Endocrine Abstracts

β-catenin is thought to play an important, intrinsic role in early pituitary development by regulating adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary) transcription factor activity. Expression of β-catenin is detected in the adenohypophysis, rostral mesenchyme, and neural ectoderm, including the area that develops into the infundibulum and neurohypophysis, and nearby regions. The importance of β-catenin expression in the neural ectoderm and mesenchyme has not been addresse...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome is a rare condition, resulting from chronic exposure to excessive circulating levels of glucocorticoids. This condition is highly associated with complications such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. This study aims to review the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome.Material and Methods: A descriptive and comparative study carried out in t...

In ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome, the high dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDDST) has been traditionally used to identify differentiate between pituitary-dependent Cushing’s disease and ectopic ACTH production. However, more recently, concerns regarding the diagnostic accuracy of the HDDST have led to many centres abandoning this test in preference to bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS). We aimed to establish current consensus in the UK for the...

Aim: There are few reports discussing incidence and characteristics of the whole group of Cushing’s syndrome patients in the literature. The aim was to establish the incidence of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome with in-depth analysis of their various subtypes in a well-defined population.Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of Cushing’s syndrome patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2017. A thorough search for patients was carrie...

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a very common endocrinopathy affecting approximately 6–18% of women of reproductive age. It is also the most common cause of infertility due to anovulation. PCOS is characterized by menstrual disorders, polycystic or enlarged ovaries on ultrasound, but hyperandrogenism is the central feature of PCOS. Assessing of serum testosterone level (T) or free T is recommended by the guidelines in the diagnosis of PCOS. Diagnostic value o...

Adrenocortical adenomas are among the most commonly identified human neoplasias, with a prevalence of 2-3% in the population. In some cases they are associated with autonomous cortisol excess that leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Altered cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) signalling is common in sporadic cortisol-producing adenomas (CPA), mostly caused by somatic mutations in the genes coding for the catalytic subunit α of PKA (PRKACA) or the stimulatory G-pr...

Introduction: It is well known that DHEA and DHEA-S has and impact on lipid metabolism, cardiovascular system and others. De Castro et al. showed that cortisol/DHEA-S ratio was an independent predictor of long-term mortality in patients with sepsis. Chronic inflammation is an important factor in cardiovascular diseases development that reduce quality and life expectancy. CVDs are more common in patients with adrenal incidentaloma than in general population. Literature data on ...

Background: The diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome is based on clinical suspicion and biochemical confirmation. Most cases are caused by an ACTH secreting pituitary microadenoma. In its severe form and when untreated, Cushing’s syndrome is associated with high mortality. We report a case of untreated Cushing’s syndrome due to pituitary microadenoma 8 years after the earlier manifestations.Observation: A 21-years-old woman was referred for pro...

In some patients with Cushing’s disease (CD), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fails to detect small pituitary ACTH-secreting adenomas despite the results of endocrine evaluation indicating Cushing’s disease.Aim: The aim of this paper is to study frequency of hypocorticism after radiosurgery – protonotherapy (PT) for patients with normal MRI for Cushing’s disease and for patients with confirmed adenomas.Methods:...

Background: Cushing’s syndrome is a rare condition in pregnancy, because infertility is one of the main features of this pathology. Association between pregnancy and cortisol excess involves a high rate of mortality and morbidity for mother and fetus. Hypertension, preeclampsia, diabetes, miscarriage, preterm delivery or sudden intrauterine death can occur. We describe a case of a pregnancy in a patient with a history of Cushing’s Syndrome, diagnosed during the pre...