Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To evaluate calcium and bone metabolism in a monocentric series of acromegaly patients (pts), treated with pegvisomant (PEG) alone or in association to long acting somatostatine analogs.Patients and methods: All pts with at least 24 consecutive months PEG treatment (alone or in combination with SSA) were enrolled. All pts had been tested at least twice/year for biochemical acromegaly-disease evaluation and annually for calcium metabolism and for bon...

Background and objective: Atypical pituitary adenomas (APA), in 2004, were defined according to WHO classification, as those with Ki-67>3%, excessive p53 expression and increased mitotic activity and invasive behaviour. The real usefulness of this classification is still controversial, so we reviewed compared clinical and prognostic features in our typical and atypical pituitary adenomas.Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 343 consecuti...

GEP NETs, especially gastrinomas, occur in 40–70% of MEN1 patients and represent the main cause of death in these patients.We aim to investigate the efficacy of lanreotide autogel (ATG) in the treatment of MEN1-related gastrinomas.We report a monocentric series of seven MEN1 patients (three M, and four F) treated with lanreotide ATG (120 mg/4 weeks) for a mean period of 62.1 months. Plasma gastrin levels have been measured at ...

The chemical composition of the cervical mucus (CM), its physical characteristics and the volume secreted show cyclical changes during the menstrual cycle.Clinical proteomics has recently developed new technologies and bioinformatics useful in identifying molecular markers of physiology and pathology. The development of novel mass spectrometers, like the LTQ-Orbitrap, considerably contributed to increase the quantity of acquired data. Aim of the present ...

Anabolic therapies represent a major advance in the management of severe osteoporosis. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and human recombinant PTH peptide 1–34 (Teriparatide) demonstrated an increase in bone mineral density and a significant reduction in vertebral fractures in patients with osteoporosis when given for 18–24 months. The intermittent administration of PTH or teriparatide stimulates osteoblastic function, improves bone architecture and has an additional analges...

Pituitary transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) is a mammalian securing involved in mitosis to ensure chromosomal stability. PTTG1 is overexpressed in a variety of tumors. It can directly and indirectly induce expression of genes that are involved in regulating tumorigenesis and cancer development (c-Myc, bFGF, VEGF and MMP2).We evaluated PTTG1-expression by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimen testicular tissues from 53 male patie...

Introduction: Everolimus is an oral mTOR inhibitor that exerts antineoplastic effects inhibiting cell proliferation, survival and angiogenesis. Its activity in advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has been demonstrated in controlled trials and everolimus was approved by the FDA for the treatment of progressive, advanced pNETs in May 2011.Materials and methods: We treated with everolimus, at the dosage of 10 mg once daily, 14 patients with advanced, prog...

Introduction: Pasireotide LAR was significantly superior to octreotide LAR at providing biochemical control in a 12-month trial in 358 medically naïve patients with acromegaly. Patients with clinical benefit or GH <2.5 μg/l and IGF1≤ULN could continue therapy in the extension study.Methods: Patients entering the extension (pasireotide LAR, n=74; octreotide LAR, n=46) were followed up to month 26 (core plus extension)...

Introduction: The main goal in the treatment of acromegaly is achieving biochemical and tumor mass control. Therapeutic options include surgery, medical treatment and, in selected cases, radiotherapy. A GH receptor (GHR) variant that differs for the genomic retention or exclusion (d3GHR) of exon 3 is present in about 50% of general population and its presence is related to a greater sensitivity to GH.Materials and methods: We describe a series of 118 pat...

GH deficiency (GHD) and excess of glucocorticoids are associated with increased risk of fragility fractures. Most adult GHD patients have other pituitary deficiencies, but it is unclear whether these deficiencies or their overreplacement therapies may influence the bone disease occurring in GHD. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the prevalence of vertebral fractures may be influenced by glucocorticoid replacement therapy in hypopituitary males with GHD. We studied ...