Endocrine Abstracts

Previous studies demonstrated that the N-terminal peptide of annexin A1 (AnxA1) (peptide Ac2-26) can mimic the anti-inflammatory actions of the full-length protein in various systems. In the current study, we report the effectiveness of the peptide Ac2-26 as an anti-inflammatory agent in a model of human SGBS adipocytes. We have previously demonstrated that plasma AnxA1 protein is significantly inversely correlated with BMI, body fat level and waist to hip ratio. We have also ...

Introduction: Acromegaly is associated with an increased mortality in untreated patients. Recent papers suggest an improvement of survival in the last years.Aims: To assess mortality ratio and to identify prognostic factors associated with mortality in acromegaly in the last decade.Methods: 297 patients (186 F/111 M, mean age 49.8±0.7 years) with acromegaly admitted in a single Neuroendocrinology Department between Jan 2001 an...

Introduction: Active acromegaly is associated with increased mortality, which has been attributed largely to cardiovascular disease.Aims: To evaluate the effects of chronic excess of GH and IGF1 on lipid metabolism in patients with active acromegaly.Subjects and methods: Ninety-seven patients (37 men and 60 women; aged 18–76 years) with macroadenoma of hypophysis (67 – somatotropinoma, 30 – somatomammotropinoma) were...

Nadir growth hormone (GH) levels after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as well as random insulin-like growth-factor I (IGF-I) levels, given as multiples of the upper limit of normal [xULN], were used to evaluate biochemical activitiy of acromegalic patients. The development of new, more sensitive GH assays makes it necessary to reevaluate the cut off values of the GH nadir after OGTT.In a cross sectional study, we evaluated nadir GH concentrations dur...

Background: Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of malignant neoplasms arising from neuroendocrine cells distributed throughout the body. The most common sites of NETs are the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas and lungs. The clinical management of NETs is not standardized, with few FDA-approved therapies. Moreover, drug development has been challenging for NETs due to limited pre-clinical models. To address this unmet need, the NCI Natural History Study of Ch...

Introduction: The steroidogenesis inhibitors ketoconazole and metyrapone are frequently used for treatment of Cushing’s syndrome, but can cause side effects. LCI699 is a known 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor, but effects on other steroidogenic enzymes are unknown. We aimed to compare effects of LCI699, ketoconazole, and metyrapone in vitro.Methods: HAC-15 cells, with or without 10 nM ACTH, and three primary human adrenocortical adenoma cultu...

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...

Background: Low energy availability (LEA) in female athletes can result in HPG axis suppression. Basic military training (BMT) is physically arduous and associated with amenorrhoea and low-trauma fractures. We hypothesised that women undergoing BMT would demonstrate evidence of LEA and suppressed HPG function.Design: Prospective study of 61 women undertaking 11-month BMT. Subjects acted as their own controls at baseline (all measures). Body composition m...

Introduction: The growth of human tumors depends on the formation of new blood vessels and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) helps control this process via inducing new capillaries to sprout from pre-existing blood vessels. Four cardiac hormones which eliminate up to 80% of human pancreatic cancers and up to 86% of human small-cell lung cancers growing in mice were investigated for their effects on VEGF and the VEGFR2/KDR/Flk-1 receptor. The VEGFR2 receptor is the main...

Introduction: The incidence of hyponatremia as a delayed complication of transsphenoidal surgery varies widely from study to study and much of the debate has focused on the symptomatic hypotonic hyponatremia (SHH) occurring usually after discharge.Aim/Design: We studied the incidence, risk factors, course and management of postoperative SHH in two large series of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETS) for pituitary tumors.Results...