Endocrine Abstracts

Case: A 56-year-old patient was referred to our endocrinology unit for management of severe hypercalcemia. He had complained initially from asthenia, intractable nausea and vomiting and weight loss (10 kg), but now also suffered from polyuria-polydipsia, bradypsychia and bradylalia, and diffuse joint pain with loss of strength in the lower limbs. Initial laboratory investigations showed a parathyroid crisis with marked increases of parathyroid hormone (PTH) at 2138.5 pg/ml (45...

Bile acids inhibit glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid metabolism. However bile acids may also influence hormone action by modulating steroidogenesis in the adrenal gland. In rodents adrenal cholesterol supply for steroidogenesis is derived from circulating HDL through the actions of scavenger receptor SR-B1. Since hepatic SR-B1 expression is known to be regulated by bile acids, we have investigated whether adrenal SR-B1 is similarly affected and, if so, whether adrenal lipid...

Background: Graves’ disease exacerbations during pregnancy usually occur in the first trimester with very rare cases of disease manifestation or relapse in second/third trimester. Up to five percent of neonates that are born to women with diffuse toxic goiter develop symptoms of hyperthyroidism because of transplacental transfer of TSH-receptor autoantibodies.Case presentation: Female, born in year 1990, with a history of symptomatic autoimmune hype...

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Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine chromaffine tumors located in the adrenal or extra-adrenal sites, respectively. Malignant pheochromocytomas or paragangliomas represent 10–20% (MPP) of these patients and are defined by the presence or occurrence of metastasis, in non chromaffin organs. MPP are characterized by their heterogeneous presentation as testified by their variety in primary locations, levels and type of hormone secretions, percentage o...

Bone’s ability to tolerate loading is determined by its material composition and structural design. During growth, growth plate trabeculae condense by appositional growth forming the metaphyseal cortices (‘corticalization’). Rapid distal radial longitudinal growth in early puberty outpaces trabecular condensation producing transitory intracortical porosity predisposing to fractures.In adulthood, remodeling removes and replaces damaged bone...

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare heterogeneous neoplasm with a poor prognosis. Most patients present with symptoms related to steroid hormone excess or presence of an abdominal mass, while less frequently they are diagnosed incidentally during clinical exploration for other causes. In children, adrenocortical tumors are most commonly found associated with mutations of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene and have the highest incidence in southern Brazil. Several clinical and patho...

With the aim of identifying genes involved in the development of pituitary tumors, we used the mRNA differential display technique comparing tumor and normal pituitary cells. Two genes have been identified to be involved in pathogenesis process: in prolactinomas obtained from Dopamine D2R knockout female mice, we have found differential expression of the cytokine BPMP-4 and in clones of the tumoral lactosomatroph cell line GH3 cell line overexpressing the cytokine IL6 signal t...

The European Registry on Cushing’s syndrome (ERCUSYN) is a project aimed at gathering data at EU level on clinical features, diagnostic procedures and therapeutic strategies in CS patients. The creation of this large European database is expected to provide comprehensive information on all stages of the disease from the first diagnosis to long-term follow-up. This ultimately should result in earlier recognition of CS and all its co-morbidities, and assist clinicians in co...

Introduction: Primary tubercular pituitary abscess is an extremely rare disease. Only few cases had been reported and the diagnosis was reached only after surgery. There is a need to distinguish between a tuberculoma, pituitary abscess and other functioning and nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma to direct our management into either medical or surgical management, especially here in the Philippines where tuberculosis is an endemic disease.Case: We present a...