Endocrine Abstracts

In this study 32 acromegalic patients were retrospectively evaluated with respect to the results of different primary treatment procedures. Study group was composed of 32 acromegalic patients admitted to our department between the years 1979-2002 (20 females, 12 males; mean age 45.2 plus/minus 14.3 years, mean follow-up: 80.7 plus/minus 62.9 months). Patients were grouped according to the primary treatment approach: 1) Patients underwent pituitary surgery (n: 28; 21 macroadeno...

Metformin treatment of women with PCOS has been shown to improve ovarian function, reduce hyperandrogenicity and induce weight loss. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the nature of the weight loss in obese women with PCOS, using 2 dose regimes.Methods: Obese (body mass index [BMI] > 29 kilograms /m2) women with PCOS (n = 44) were recruited to the study, and randomised to receive either 1500mg metformin daily (n = 22), or ...

Aim: To evaluate the efficiency of glucocorticosteroids (GCS) in combination with biological therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).Materials and methods: A retrospective study of hospitalized patients with a PCR-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 with T2D was conducted (n=179). Patients received standard therapy, including biological preparations. The first group consisted of participants who received ...

Glucocorticoids are an important adipogenic factor. In man, circulating cortisol excess causes visceral obesity, but in simple obesity glucocorticoid levels are usually normal. However, in adipose tissue cortisol availability to bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is modulated by 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11 beta-HSD1). Human preadipocytes display both dehydrogenase (cortisol to cortisone) and oxo-reductase (cortisone to cortisol) activity. Recent genet...

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is very common in older persons. It is not clear how serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels change during aging.Objective: To examine longitudinal changes in serum 25(OH)D levels in two representative cohorts of Dutch older persons during 6 and 13 years of follow-up, respectively.Methods: Data of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used, an ongoing cohort study in older persons. T...

Recent studies have shown that serum concentrations of AMH (produced by granulosa cells of the human ovary) are positively related to the number of antral follicles and are negatively correlated with age. Like inhibin B (also a granulosa cell product) AMH is thought to be a useful clinical marker of follicle reserve. Serum AMH concentrations have been reported to be higher than normal in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is characterised by an excess of antral...

Introduction: Regulation of HER2 through the transcription factor PEA3 is associated with tumour progression and resistance to endocrine treatment in human breast cancer. The mechanism of this resistance remains unclear. Activation of estrogen receptor co-activator proteins via the MAP-kinase pathway is thought to be central to tamoxifen insensitivity. We hypothesised that activation of HER2 by PEA3 may result in activation of co-activator proteins such as AIB1 (amplified-in-b...

IntroductionSomatostatin has antiproliferative, anti-angiogenic and pro-apoptotic actions through 5 G-protein receptors (Sstr). In view of the anti-angiogenic effects of Sstrs their relationship to the distribution of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was undertaken in non-malignant Reinke's Oedema of the larynx and squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx.MethodsSix Reinke's oedema (non malignant) and 1...

Background: Long-acting depot somatostatin analogues injections are useful drugs in the medical treatment of acromegaly. No previous study has assessed the value of acute octreotide suppression test in predicting responses to depot injections.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the value of the acute octreotide suppression test (100 micrograms subcutaneously, GH measurements hourly for 8 hours) in predicting the long-term response to long...

Human obesity is characterised by an increase in both the number of adipocytes and by an increase in their size, which is determined by adipogenesis. Adipogenesis can be induced in vitro in preadipocytes cultured in differentiation medium containing 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, insulin, dexamethasone, and triiodothyronine but the signalling pathways important in adipogenesis are not well characterised. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway i...