Endocrine Abstracts

The allergic sensitization represents an environmental factor for thyroid autoimmunity and highlights a common pathway between autoimmunity and allergy. Elevated IgE levels are connected to hyperthyroid Graves’ disease. The allergic sensitization in thyroid autoimmunity seems mainly to be an associated immune reaction.Allergic sensitization to 20 aeroallergens and the levels of thyroid hormones and antibodies were studied in 121 patients with Graves...

Congenital hypoplastic anemia (Diamond-Blakfan Syndrom) is genetically determined disorder which is manifested in early childhood with selective deficiency of erythrocyte line in bone marrow. Severe anemia usually appears between 2nd and 6th month of life. Survival depends on blood transfusions, which in consequence lead to hemosiderosis. Hypopituitarism, hypogonadism and diabetes mellitus and other endocrinopathies are the complications of hemochromatosis.<p class="abstex...

Background: The Olsztyn region, in the north-east of Poland, is mainly a rural area with the population of 0.77 mln. After the Chernobyl breakdown the region was classified as one of the most heavily radioactively contaminated areas of Poland. It was also characterized by mild severity of iodine deficiency and endemic goiter before iodine prophylaxis introduction in 1996/7.Aim of the study: To evaluate the incidence rate (IR), current trend and histotype...

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of environmental and socio-economical factors on the increase in the incidence rate of thyroid cancer observed in Olsztyn and the Warmia and Mazury Region in the years 1994-2003.Material and methods: In the group of patients registered in the standardized thyroid cancer register their place of residence, education level, place of parents descent, exposure to ionizing irradiation during the Chernobyl acci...

Thyroid eye disease (TED) represents the most frequent and important extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves' disease. Less commonly the eye changes may occur in euthyroid individuals without a preceding history of thyrotoxicosis, represents approximately 8-21% of TED cases. Patients with the rare combination of primary hypothyroidism and TED are predisposed to severe eye disease and atypical presentation of such patients may delay diagnosis and treatment . The primary importan...

Recently, two new peptides named Orexin-A and Orexin-B, have been implicated in the regulation of feeding behaviour. Studies in starved rats have shown that catabolic activity quickly predominates, reinforced by elevated corticosterone, not driven by ACTH, implicating adrenal activity as a metabolic regulator. In view of these findings, we sought to investigate whether orexin and orexin receptors are present in human fetal and adult adrenals, and therefore may be implicated in...

Aims/hypothesis: Several data have shown the association between diabetes type 2 (DM2) and transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene polymorphisms, in several and different ethnical populations. Although the pathophysiology is not completely clear, it seems that beta and alpha cell functions are abnormal. Up to these days there is no clinical data showing association between TCF7L2 gene polymorphism allele rs7903146 T and beta cell insulin and C-peptide contents in DM2 patie...

Prostatic adenocarcinoma (PCa) is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in US men. Organ-confined PCa can be effectively managed, but there is no durable treatment for advanced disease. Advanced PCa is treated through androgen deprivation therapy, often coupled with direct AR antagonists, as PCa is exquisitely dependent on androgen receptor (AR) activity for survival. Furthermore, recent studies identified AR as a major effector of DNA repair,...

The balance of androgen and estrogen hormone activity determines the degree of breast development in males and females. A predominance of androgen action impedes whereas a predominance of estrogen action promotes breast development. This sex hormone antagonism is mechanistically mediated by androgen and estrogen receptors (AR, ER). The alpha form of ER (ERα) is required for normal breast development and is the driving oncogene in the majority of breast cancers. The AR is ...

A number of different cell types contribute to the cellular architecture of fat tissue. While the fat cell is making important functional contributions to the systemic metabolic well-being, several additional cell types contribute a supportive role to bestow maximal flexibility on the tissue with respect to many biosynthetic and catabolic processes. The adipocyte has morphed into a cell type whose complexity we only start to appreciate. We now understand that: 1) the contribut...