Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Thyroid hormones affect male and female sexual and reproductive function, but few studies have been performed on sexual dysfunctions in hyper- and hypothyroid women.Aim of the study: To evaluate female sexual function in untreated and treated hyper- and hypothyroidism and in euthyroid Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT).Patients and methods: Fifty consecutive women (38.5±8.2 years, range 18–53 years), 22 with ...

A 34-year-old primi gravida, 11 weeks into pregnancy, presented with hypertension (blood pressure 170/110 mmHg) proteinuria and hypokalaemia. She gave a 6-week history of tiredness, weight gain, and easy bruising. On examination, there was marked facial puffiness, non pitting oedema, thin skin with multiple bruises, marked proximal myopathy and no pigmented striae. Pregnancy associated Cushing’s was suspected.Investigations: Hypokalaemia (K+</s...

Two-way interactions between the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the hypothalamo–pituitary–testicular (HPT) axis are well recognised. For example, in rats disruption of the HPT axis alters the circadian secretion of corticosterone. Conversely, stress conditions have varying effects on the level of testosterone secretion in both rats and humans. In contrast to humans, where several pulses of testosterone secretion can be detected across the 24 h...

We describe a case of severe hypocalcemia after methimazole treatment for Graves disease, which closely resembles classic hungry bone syndrome.A 41-year-old woman with a history of Graves disease presented to our Internal Medicine ward with tachyarrythmia. Laboratory data showed a severe hyperthyroidism, an ecocardigraphy demonstrated a dilated cardiomyopathy. The patient was given beta-blockers, low molecular weight heparin, and methimazole (30 mg/day)....

Little is known about the negative regulation of angiogenesis in the ovary. Recent evidence has revealed that estradiol 17β and its metabolites may play an important role in this fine tuning1. In a previous work2, we set up an assay to quantify 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE) and 4-hydroxyestradiol (4-OHE) in follicular fuids. In order to get an insight on the angiogenic effect of 4-OHE and 2-OHE, the objective of this research was to study their possible...

The D2 dopamine receptor (D2R) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) known to have key roles in neurotransmission, hypothalamic-pituitary hormone release and glucose homeostasis. Thus, this receptor is a therapeutic target in schizophrenia, neurodegenerative disorders, endocrine tumours and even diabetes. As for many GPCRs, D2R can associate with itself as homodimers or heterodimers with distinct receptors. The balance between monomers, homodimers and heterodimers of D2R has ...

Introduction: The adrenal morphology in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is poorly described in the literature, so that adrenal radiological evaluation is not recommended in patients with CAH. The aim of this study was to evaluate the adrenal morphology in a large cohort of adult patients with CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency and its correlation with the subtype of CAH (non-classical-NCAH, simple virilizing-SV, or salt wasting-SW), the hormonal status and the treatment...

Background: Alstrom syndrome (AS; OMIM#203800) is a rare (<1:100.000) autosomal recessive monogenic ciliopathy and it is caused by mutations in ALMS1 (chromosome 2p13), which function is still unknown. AS is characterized by multisystemic fibrosis, cone-rod retinal dystrophy leading to blindness, hearing loss, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), dilated cardiomyopathy, and progressive hepatic and renal failure. Most patients present neurological issue on developmenta...

Cushing’s disease (CD) is the most common cause of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome in children and adolescents and represents a rare cause of short stature. A 14-year-old boy came to our attention for progressive weight gain and short stature. Birth length and weight were normal; clinical history was negative for use of glucocorticoids. At examination, height was 140 cm (3th centile), weight was 37.7 kg (10th centile). Tanner stage was: G2, PH 3, testis 3 ml. Hypothyro...

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing worldwide. The untreated metabolic syndrome places individuals at risk both for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Adult GH deficiency syndrome present some of the 5 features of the metabolic syndrome, abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL-cholesterol, elevations of blood glucose, hypertension and a 2-fold higher risk of death for CD compared with controls. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence o...