Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In the presence of atherogenic plaque, estrogens may be potentially harmful. Among the key vessel wall components in the later stages of atherogenic process are endothelial cells (ECs). During the stages of plaque instability/rupture, metalloproteinases (MMP2 and MMP9), their inhibitors (TIMP2 and TIMP1), RANK, RANKL, OPG, MCP1, lysyl oxidase (LOX), PDGF, and ADAMTS4 play critical role. We aimed to investigate i) the effect of oestrogens on the expression of the ...

Objectives: Glucocorticoids may affect cardiovascular risk. Polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor (GlucR) gene have been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether the common Bcl1 polymorphism of the GlucR gene (associated with increased sensitivity to glucocorticoids) may be associated with early markers of atherosclerosis.Methods: Two hundred and fourteen middle aged apparently healthy subjects (age &#8230...

Background: Hormonal activity and insulin resistance (IR) in patients with incidentally discovered bilateral adrenal adenomas (BA) has not been evaluated until now. Therefore, we have investigated cortisol and aldosterone secretion and IR in 29 patients with BA, in 113 patients with unilateral adrenal adenomas (UA) and in 89 healthy subjects (C).Methods: All subjects underwent the following investigation: 1) Low dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDST...

Introduction-aim: It has been suggested that estrogen may play an important role in the regulation of endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in both sexes. Especially in men, estradiol administration has been shown to improve endothelial function; however such reports are conflicting. The aim of our study was to examine the relation of endogenous sex hormone levels with markers of early atherosclerosis in a cohort of apparently healthy individuals.Methods:...

Objective: Thyroid function tests (TFTs) have been associated with obesity; however associations with the type of adiposity have not been examined. Ultrasound (U/S) was used to assess regional adiposity in euthyroid individuals. Associations of thyroid function with obesity parameters and presence of the metabolic syndrome (MS) were investigated.Methods: Of 302 apparently healthy slightly overweight individuals (age 42.9±8.8, BMI 19.0–43.3, med...

Objective: The association of SHBG levels with obesity, hyperinsulinemia and metabolic abnormalities is well recognized in both men and women. Recent data suggest that SHBG levels are an important predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Several methods have been used for the measurement of adiposity including ultrasonography (U/S) which is a reliable and low-cost method. We used U/S to assess regional adiposity and investigated possible associations with SHBG levels.</...

Introduction: Recent years PEIT has been introduced as an alternative to parathyroidectomy. We evaluated the results of PEIT in patients with primary (pHPT) or secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT).Patients and methods: 18 patients (6M/12F) with pHPT and 20 patients (7M/13F) with sHPT underwent PEIT between 2001 and 2005 and had a mean follow up of 24.3±9 and 27±10 months respectively. The PTGs were identified and blood supply to the gland was e...

Background: With the increasing use of cancer immunotherapies in advanced solid organ and hematologic malignancies, endocrinologists are beckoned to manage endocrine complications with unique presentations and natural history in the already challenged oncology patient. We describe four patients illustrating the multifarious endocrine adversities of checkpoint inhibitors.Cases: Patient 1 is a 35-year old male with refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma, previ...

The Hippo kinase cascade is a crucial signalling pathway regulating organ growth during development in numerous organs. There is mounting evidence implicating this signalling pathway in tumour formation, where it is emerging as an anti-cancer target due to effective pharmacological inhibition of its transcriptional activators YAP/TAZ. We previously demonstrated activity of the Hippo kinase cascade in the mouse pituitary and nuclear association of YAP/TAZ with SOX2 expressing p...

Pituitary stem cells (PSCs) expressing SOX2 persist throughout life, giving rise to all pituitary endocrine lineages. These cells are highly active at early postnatal stages but this potential declines with age, rendering them mostly inactive in adulthood. The LATS/YAP/TAZ signaling cascade can influence stem cell fate and activity in multiple tissues and we previously identified activity of this axis in the developing and postnatal pituitary. Using a series of genetic manipul...