Endocrine Abstracts

The formation of the vertebrate pancreas is a complex process that typifies the basic steps of embryonic development. It involves the establishment of competence, specification, signaling from neighboring tissues, morphogenesis, and the elaboration of tissue-specific genetic networks. A full analysis of this multistep process will help us to understand classic principles of embryonic development. Furthermore, this will provide the blueprint for experimental programming of panc...

COVID-19 is affecting Northern Italy since early 2020 and long-term consequences of the pandemia are progressively coming to light. Over the past months, a marked increase in the number of adults with rapid-onset severe diabetes has been observed at the Diabetes Clinic thus prompting an evalutation into possible links with COVID-19. Of note, diabetes and hyperglycaemia are known to worsen during COVID-19 and there are several reports of new-onset hyperglycaemia during SARSCoV2...

Objectives: The aim is to systematically review the evidence among the eligible primary studies in which the relationship between dietary patterns and risk of obesity/overweight in children and/or adolescents aged 3-17 years in China was assessed.Methods: Bibliographic databases such as Medline (Ovid), were searched. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, synonyms or alternative terminologies, acronyms were included. The quality of included studies was a...

Background: There is much debate about the best imaging modality for parathyroid adenoma. Parathyroid ultrasound is operator dependent and in skilled hands leads to localisation of tumour. Small adenomas can be difficult to detect and radiologists are helped by clinical and biochemical data to predict ease of adenoma detection. We investigated whether any factors could predict adenoma size.Methodology: This was a retrospective CWS analysis of patients wh...

Retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, has recently yielded promising results in the treatment of Cushing’s disease (Pecori Giraldi et al. JCEM 2012). Its main site of action appears to be the tumoural corticotrope as retinoic acid inhibits POMC transcription and corticotrope proliferation (Paez-Pereda et al. JCI 2001). Studies on tumoural adrenal cell lines have revealed an additional inhibitory effect on cell proliferation and stimulated co...

A 69-year-old woman developed hypertension, polyuria and hyperglycemia over the course of several months. The initial biochemical investigation revealed ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism (UFC 409.7 μg/24 h, NR 10–80; ACTH 43.3 pg/ml, NR 8–50; OST 28 μg/dl) and moderately elevated urinary catecholamines (E 80.5 μg/24 h, NR 2.5–33.6; norE 235.8 μg/24 h, NR 18.1–128.2). Further investigations disclosed absent ACTH and cortisol responses to CR...

Background: Polyphenols are proposed as protective factors against the occurrence of degenerative diseases affecting several systems, such as cardiovascular and neurocognitive ones. The beneficial effect of polyphenol-enriched diets is assumed to be multifactorial, including direct antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as the polyphenol-related capability to modulate lipid metabolism and gut microbiota function. However, the prediction of polyphenols’ impa...

We present two cases, with apparently confirmed Cushing’s. Detailed clinical evaluation did not support the diagnosis, and carbamezepine interference was finally confirmed in both patients.Case 1: A 44-year-old man presented to a nephrologist with malignant hypertension. Routine investigation for secondary causes revealed hyperreninaemia with marked disparity of kidney size suggestive of renal infarction. 24 h urinary free cortisols (UFCs) were also...

Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (mPTC) is being diagnosed increasingly frequently. Multifocality and nodal involvement are sometimes reported on diagnosis. Management ranges from observation to total thyroidectomy (Tx) followed by radioiodine (RAI) ablation. The role of rhTSH testing in mPTC has not been fully investigated. Torlontano et al. (2006) recently observed that rhTSH-stimulated Tg levels mainly depend on normal tissue remnant. Aim of this study was to further...

Introduction: We have previously reported on the considerable variability in ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas in terms of responses to major modulators in vitro (Pecori Giraldi et al J. Neuroendocrinol. 2011). Further studies revealed also differences in gene expression profiles in specimens analyzed by microarray analysis. Aim of this study is to correlate transcriptome expression pattern in archival human ACTH-secreting adenomas with clinical features of patients p...