Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is an ovarian defect characterized from primary or secondaryamenorrhea, high levels of FSH (> 25 UI/l) and low levels of estrogen, which occurs before age 40.Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical features and genetic causes of a group of 68 patients with POI.Methods: We performed anamnestic and clinical evaluation, hormonal and autoimmunity assessment, pel...

Introduction: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are considered to have increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), even though the syndrome encompasses hugely varying phenotypes. Research into CVD prevention demonstrated a variety of biochemical and ultrasound (US) markers predicting risk in the general population, but those are sparsely utilised for PCOS, in part due to the patients’ therapeutic goals.Aim: To evaluate if PCOS type or...

Background: Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is a challenging disease associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The European Thyroid Association guidelines define the role for total thyroidectomy in the management of AIT. However, these recommendations were based on small series, which often lead to heterogeneous results and, importantly, did not identify patients who may benefit from surgery.Materials and methods: Observational longitudi...

Male idiopathic osteoporosis is an underestimated disease, despite its clinical and social importance. The biochemical mechanisms are still poorly understood even if the interaction between genetic factors and hormone environment (especially gonadal steroids and GH) plays a undoubtful role. In previous studies we demonstrated low plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in hypogonadal patients. The aim of this study was to investigate oxidative stress as risk factor for bone fr...

Iron represents a micronutrient for cellular metabolism and aerobic respiration, and is essential for proper brain development in the fetal and early neonatal period. However, excess iron produces toxic build-up via free radical formation. In thalassaemic and juvenile hemochromatosis patients with pubertal failure, iron overload interferes with the correct function of the hypothalamic–pituitary axis, leading to hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism and growth failure, but the me...

A 73 years old man came to our observation for severe dysphagia and loss of weight (10 kg in 1 month). About 30 years before he had myocardial infarction and he underwent coronary artery bypass graft. One week before the first medical evaluation, patient suspended all drugs per os because he could not swallow pills and food. Thyroid function test revealed a severe hyperthyroidism (FT3 11.9 pg/ml; FT4 40 pg/ml; TSH <0.01 μU/ml). Anti-TSH ...

Background: Subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS) is defined as alterations in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis without classic signs or symptoms of glucocorticoid excess. It is still controversial whether SCS leads to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, and if the degree of subclinical hypercortisolism may predict these clinical outcomes.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of hypertension, type-2 diabetes (T2D), coronary heart disease (C...

Introduction: The relation between GH treatment and cancer is still matter of debate. Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) have a high risk to develop second benign and malignant neoplasms (SNs), mainly as a consequence of radiation therapy. Thus, in patients with GH deficiency it is difficult to discriminate the oncological risk due to GH treatment from that caused by anticancer therapy and by individual susceptibility.Methods: We studied the prevalence of ...

Introduction: Several cross-sectional studies evidence the association between hypovitaminosis D, obesity, insulin resistance (IR), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cohorts, although the role of obesity per se is still debatable. Increased leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (L/A) and low-grade chronic inflammation markers, both due to accumulation of dysfunctional adipocytes, have been recently reported in PCOS. Aim of our study was to investigate the relative roles of obe...

Introduction: Acromegaly is a rare disease caused by chronic exposure to excessive levels of GH, usually related to the presence of a pituitary adenoma, and associated to somatic and visceral hypertrophy, metabolic alterations, respiratory and cardiovascular complications, and increased risk of neoplasias.Materials and methods: The prevalence of manifestations, complications and associated illness was evaluated in 137 acromegalic subjects (52 M, 85 F; ag...