Endocrine Abstracts

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is characterized by the association of insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and is strictly related to increased cardiovascular risk. Recent scientific evidence confirms that very low calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) is a valuable treatment for patients with insulin resistance and visceral obesity. After the VLCKD phase it is essential to gradually reintroduce carbohydrates and increase calories in order to ...

Background: Testosterone therapy in transgender men (TM) is aimed at achieving serum testosterone levels in the male reference range. It remains unknown if serum oestradiol levels in TM should be evaluated and/or adjusted. Although reported serum oestradiol levels in TM are variable in the current literature, these values may be affected through two possible mechanisms: serum oestradiol levels may increase through aromatization of exogenous testosterone, while the effects of e...

Endocrine clinical practice strongly relies on normative data for the assessment of hormonal imbalance. However, the generation of robust steroids reference intervals (RIs) remains a challenge. As the steroids circulating levels are influenced by many procedural aspects related to blood collection (time, fasting state) and physio-pathological factors, such as age, sex, stress and metabolic status, the need for partitioning RIs is mandatory. Furthermore, unbiased healthy, drug-...

Thyroid dysfunction has been traditionally related to several lipid abnormalities. Indeed, even within the normal range of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) values, a linear increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides and a linear decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels has been observed with increasing TSH. With respect to serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations, high, normal, or low valu...

11β-hydroxylase deficiency is the second most frequent cause of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), corresponding to approximately 5% of cases., and caused by inactivating mutations in the CYP11B1 gene. We aimed to describe four new cases from two different families with a clinical diagnosis of 11β-hydroxylase deficiency. Family 1: Two siblings born from consanguineous parents. A 31-year-old (yo) woman presented at 5 yo with genital ambiguity (Prader II), ...

Introduction: Multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare heterogeneous disorder caused by accumulation in multiple organs of dendritic cells phenotypically similar to cutaneous Langerhans cells. Pituitary involvement is present in about 25% of cases, and central diabetes insipidus is the most common deficit in that setting. Panhypopituitarism is rare, but hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction is amongst the most frequent long-term complications of the disease.<...

Objective: Hormonal treatment in trans women (MtF transgender persons) in Europe usually consists of estrogens and anti-androgens, e.g. cyproterone acetate (CPA). After initiation of cross-sex hormone therapy, an elevation in serum prolactin levels is frequently observed in trans women, which was previously attributed to estrogen agents. This analysis evaluates whether CPA contributes to the elevation of prolactin in trans women receiving cross-sex hormones.<p class="abste...

Introduction: Fat distribution is an important secondary sex characteristic, which is generally peripherally or pear-shaped (gynoid) in females and centrally or apple-shaped (android) in males. Total body fat increases in male-to-females (MtFs) and decreases in female-to-males (FtMs) during cross-sex hormone therapy (CSHT), approaching body fat amounts of the desired sex. However, changes in android or gynoid fat distribution might be a better measure for masculinization and f...

Vitamin D has a role in the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity.There is evidence in humans that serum levels of 1,25(OH) D3 were found to be significantly lower in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases.We have evaluated all samples performed in the endocrine labs tested for vitamin D, AbTg, Ab-TPO and TSH from 2006 to 2015; 29216 samples for vitamin D and 41014 for TSH, AbTg and TPO were considered.We s...

Some authors observed lower thyroid antibodies titers (AbT) in children than in the adult population. The aim of this work was to consider the prevalence of positive results in AbT and elevated TSH levels. We have considered AbT and TSH measurements in a large population. We divided samples in 7 age groups 0–18, 18–20, 20–40, 40–50, 50–60, 60–70 and >70 years old. Cut-off positivity for AbTg and AbTPO was 50 and for TSH was 10 mUI/ml.<p cl...