Endocrine Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a clinical triad of anovulation, insulin resistance, and androgen excess in women. Adipose androgen generation of testosterone from androstenedione by aldo-ketoreductase type 1C3 (AKR1C3) may contribute to hyperandrogenism, particularly in the setting of obesity. We aimed to determine the effects of BMI and age on AKR1C3 expression in subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) fat depots in both women and men.Paired SC and OM ...

Background: Struma ovarii, defined as containing 50% or more thyroid tissue is rare and accounts for 1% of ovarian tumours. Presentation is non-specific, relating to mass effect. Although the tumour predominantly consists of thyroidal tissue, features of hyperthyroidism occur in <5% of cases. Majority are benign, histological features of thyroid cancer are found in about 5–10%. Seventy per cent of these are papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We present a case of struma o...

Introduction: Patients with clinical clues suggesting the possible presence of secondary hypertension should undergo a more extensive evaluation, because in this case some of these disorders can be cured, leading to partial or complete normalization of the blood pressure.Case description: We report a case of a 43-year-old man, who suffered for years of hypertension despite concurrent use of adequate doses of three antihypertensive agents from different c...

A 40-year-old transfemale, regularly treated with oral estradiol (2 mg per day) and CPA (100 mg per day) for the last 15 years, presented with two asymptomatic intracranial lesions on compatible with meningiomas. Gender dysphoria since the age of 14, begins treatment in 2006. Paranoid schizophrenia at age 17. She referred to occasional headaches, without neurological defect. In the year 2013, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan revealed an expansive lesion over the sphenoi...

Introduction: Iron-induced hypophosphatemia is a well-known adverse effect in patients receiving parenteral iron supplementation. Initially thought to be transient and mild, it seems that in certain cases, especially in patients who require repeated intravenous iron administrations, it can lead to spectacular symptomatology and serious complications.Case report: A female patient, aged 61 was referred for intense muscle and bone pain, severe impaired mobi...

Background: Psoriasis is a common chronic, inflammatory skin disease that may exhibit a variety of clinical manifestations. Psoriasis has also been identified as a multisystem chronic inflammatory disorder associated with multiple comorbidities. Recently has been reported a role for vitamin D in the pathogenesis of different skin diseases, including psoriasis.Aim: The objective of this study was to measure the serum level of vitamin D in patients with ps...

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is the best available technique for preoperative diagnosis of malignancy in thyroid nodules. Although its efficiency has been well described, the learning curve is underreported. We aimed to describe the learning curve of a new FNA facility (endocrinologist/pathologist) in a university based hospital.Methods: In February 2018 a new FNA facility was formed in our hospital comprising an endocrinologist with high experience in t...

Introduction: Williams syndrome (WS) is a multi-systemic disorder caused by a deletion in the region 7q11.23. Childhood endocrine follow-up is mainly aimed to monitor hypercalcemia and thyroid function. A high prevalence (63–71%) of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM) in young adults with WS is reported. WS guidelines recommend Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) starting from 30 years of age. We demonstrate evidence of IGT and DM in WS at a much ea...

Adiponectin, an exclusive adipose-derived hormone, circulates at high concentration, and exerts metabolic effects. Adiponectin levels in the circulation correlate negatively with BMI, and low adiponectin concentrations are associated with the low grade inflammation and metabolic dysfunction that accompanies obesity. Adiponectin has been reported to have potent anti-inflammatory activities, and to exert these effects by regulating macrophage function. The mechanism of adiponect...

Patients with glucocorticoids (GC) excess develop central obesity, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in up to 20% of cases. Current dogma suggests that GCs cause insulin resistance in all tissues. However, we have previously demonstrated that GCs induce insulin sensitisation in adipose tissue in vitro, whilst causing insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. In rodent hepatocytes, GCs enhance insulin stimulated lipogenesis but studies in human hepatocytes have not...