Endocrine Abstracts

The presence and the role of CD20+ T cells in humans has been described in autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. In healthy subjects, CD3+CD20+ T cells are detected in all lymphatic organs and in the cerebrospinal fluid and represent about 5% of circulating T cells. Some reports described their production of high levels of IL-17A and/or IFN-γ. This study was aimed at investigating the behavior of CD3<sup...

Hyperandrogenemia (elevated testosterone, T) and metabolic dysfunction are hallmarks of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can have varying degrees of ovulatory dysfunction. Adipocyte hypertrophy, induced by obesity and hyperandrogenemia, has been suggested to contribute to the systemic low-grade inflammation thought to be one of the drivers leading to reproductive dysfunction in women with PCOS. However, whether hyperandrogenemia and adipocyte hypertrophy per se induce a...

Background: Osteoporosis is a disease usually associated with postmenopausal women and men over sixty. Little is known about the long-term course of early-onset osteoporosis and the factors affecting fracture risk and bone density(T-score).Objectives: Factors that cause osteoporosis or aggravate its progression in younger patients are less studied than in older patients. Data are lacking on treatment choice, adherence and effectiveness. Our study group p...

Background: Well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are characterized by the overexpression of somatostatin receptors (SSTRs). To efficiently engage and activate tumor infiltrating lymphocytes against NET cells, we designed a novel bispecific T-cells engager (BiTE) composed of 2 molecules of somatostatin-14 (SST14), the hormone that physiologically binds SSTRs, linked with a single chain variable fragment (scFV)-based anti-CD3.Methods: The optim...

Background: Childhood obesity now represents a major public health concern. Being obese in childhood appears to increase the risk of severe obesity in adulthood. Obesity is associated with co-morbid conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Underpinning obesity is a state of chronic sterile inflammation. Recently the invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell, an innate T cell was shown to act as a metabolic regulator and altered by obesity both in adults and ...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive endocrine malignancy with poor prognosis and very limited treatment options in advanced disease. The only curative approach is complete surgical resection. Additionally, 60% of patients show endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) excess with clinical apparent hypercortisolism and low to no immune cell infiltration. To date, no therapeutically relevant surface markers are known for ACC, which is why it has not been con...

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic disease (Covid-19) is associated with the onset of thyroid dysfunction via multiple mechanisms. Patients hospitalised for severe Covid-19 disease may develop painless atypical thyroiditis coexisting with non-thyroidal illness syndrome, which determines transient thyrotoxicosis with quick restoration of euthyroidism during the following weeks. However signs of thyroiditis at ultrasound and sci...

Background: Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the most frequent genetic cause of male infertility. Individuals share the endocrine hallmark of hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, displaying high gonadotropin levels due to deficient testicular function. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located within the FSHB promoter region (−211G>T, rs10835638) was recently shown to be associated with reduced serum FSH levels and other reproductive parameters in men. The objec...

Classification of pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) or pituitary adenomas is based on the expression of the anterior lobe pituitary hormones (FSH, LH, GH, Prolactin, TSH, ACTH and alpha-subunit of the glycoprotein hormones). Assessment of the transcription factors SF-1, Pit-1 and T-Pit has been a complement to the classification. Tumours negative for both pituitary hormones and transcription factors have been designated as null-cell adenomas. However, lack of sensitive a...

Introduction: Perivascular adipose tissue has been implicated in vascular physiology and pathology, including atherosclerosis. Local adipokine production is one of the paracrine mechanisms involved in this adipose tissue fuction. We investigated the expression of adipokines chemerin and adiponectin and their receptors CMKLR1 and T-cadherin, respectively, in human coronary arterial wall and pericoronary fat as well as their correlation with coronary atherosclerosis.<p class...