Endocrine Abstracts

Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is a rare cancer with poor prognosis and scant treatment options. Mitotane alone, or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy, represents the referral current treatment for patients with unresectable ACC. Recent studies have shown that mTOR inhibitors suppress growth of ACC cells. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of mitotane in combination with mTOR inhibitors. In H295 and SW13 cells we tested the effects of a 6 day treatment with increa...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) are heterogeneous and have limited biomarkers to predict their behaviour, thus making their prognostication difficult. Ki-67 is a protein expressed in active phases of the cell cycle and is one of the biomarkers utilized in routine assessment of PitNET tissue. Current European Society of Endocrinology recommendations advise that histopathological analysis of PitNETs should as a minimum include Ki-67 proliferation index and anterior pi...

ESE Young Investigator AwardIntroduction: GH and IGF1 are thought to promote breast carcinogenesis as circulating levels of GH/IGF1 are positively correlated with breast cancer risk in epidemiologic studies, and mouse models with developmental GH/IGF1 deficiency or resistance are less susceptible to breast cancer development. However, no studies have shown that high levels of circulating GH/IGF1 can promote mammary tumorigenesis. In this...

Introduction: We recently reported cases of segmental overgrowth due to mosaic heterozygous activating mutations in the p110α catalytic subunit of PI3K. The index case presented with life-long, massive overgrowth of both legs with a lean upper body. Mobility was threatened by continued growth. mTORC1 inhibition has been effective at slowing excess growth due to loss of PTEN function, a negative regulator of PI3K. We hypothesised that mTORC1 inhibition would also be effect...

Objective: Kisspeptin is hormone involved in the initiation and maintenance of fertility. Placenta is the major source of kisspeptin but its role during gestation is still matter of debate. Studies investigating kisspeptin levels during gestation in patients with diabetes and hypertension are lacking. Our aim was to prospectively evaluate kisspeptin levels in pregnant women with chronic diseases such as IDDM and H.Design and methods: Kisspeptin levels we...

PGC1 and RIP140 are key regulators of nuclear receptor signalling that control metabolic gene expression in adipose tissue, liver and muscle. PGC1 promotes whereas RIP140 represses the expression of a network of catabolic genes in adipose and muscle. Thus mice devoid of RIP140 accumulate less fat in adipose tissue and liver while mitochondrial biogenesis and respiration is increased in type 2 muscle fibres; as a consequence, the mice maintain their insulin sensitivity as they ...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon malignancy with a still scantily understood pathogenesis and generally poor prognosis. Surgery, performed at early stages, offers the best chance for cure, but unfortunately, it is often noncurative. Medical treatment produced disappointing responses. mTOR inhibitors, such as sirolimus (S) and temsirolimus (T), are promising antineoplastic drugs in several types of carcinomas.Methods: To evaluate ...

Chronic exposure to hypercortisolism significantly impacts on patient’s health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We developed a disease-generated questio-nnaire to evaluate HRQoL in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) (CushingQoL); in 125 (104 females) patients recruited in Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy, clinical and hormonal data were collected and correlated with results of the generic SF-36 questionnaire, a question on self-perceived general heal...

Dopamine receptors (DR) are expressed in the majority of corticotroph pituitary tumors and the dopamine agonist cabergoline is effective in controlling cortisol hypersecretion in around 50% of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). In order to characterize the tumors expressing D2 receptors and the profile of patients which might respond to the treatment with D2 agonists, the current study has the aim to correlate D2 receptor expression and...

Objective: The adipocytokine visfatin, expressed in abdominal adipose tissue (AT) is thought to mimic insulin activity. However, whilst central adiposity is closely related to insulin resistance (IR) and T2DM, visfatins’ role in the development of these conditions remains unclear.Method: We investigated circulating visfatin levels in non-diabetic (ND) and diabetic (T2DM) subjects and in T2DM patients pre- and post- rosiglitazone (RSG) treatment. We ...