Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Patients with acromegaly have an increased fracture risk, particularly vertebral fractures. Growth hormone (GH) excess, and the related increase of IGF-1 levels, have been shown to impair bone microarchitecture more than bone density. Therefore, the assessment of trabecular bone score (TBS) has been recommended beside standard dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is less expensive and more accessible compared to DXA,...

Cushing’s Disease (CD) is severe clinical condition due to an ACTH-secreting pituitary tumor. Here we present the case of a 25-years old male who came to our attention for hypertension, moon face, acanthosis nigricans, abdominal purple striae and central obesity. The diagnosis of CD was based on the presence of high plasma cortisol after dexamethasone suppression test and elevated urinary free cortisol levels (UFC, 6-fold higher the upper limit of normality (ULN)). The pi...

GH deficiency (GHD) negatively influences cardiovascular function directly by impairing cardiac filling, performance, and contractility and indirectly by inducing atherosclerotic changes, hypercoagulability, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, dislipidemia, endothelial dysfunction, etc. This accounts for the reduced life expectancy and increased risk of death for vascular disease in these patients.CFR represents the capacity of the coronary circulatio...

The increasing use of somatostatin (SRIF) analogues prompted extensive investigations on SRIF receptor (SSR) in human tumours. Human prostate cancer (PCa) may differentially express SSRs from the normal tissue. Moreover, SSR and dopamine (D) receptors (DR) may interact to form homo- and heterodimers with enhanced functional activity. In the present study, using the human androgen-dependent PCa cell line LNCaP, we investigated: 1) SSR and DR subtype expression in different cult...

Somatostatin (SRIF) has been demonstrated to inhibit in vitro proliferation of normal and transformed cells via SRIF receptors (SSRs). Moreover, like other neuroendocrine molecules, SRIF and SSRs may play a significant role in the progression and neuroendocrine differentiation of human prostate cancer (PCa). However, conflicting results have been reported in the literature on SSR heterogeneity and specific cell localization in PCa. In the present study, using the human ...

Growth is an integrated process, resulting from the response of cells to nutrient availability and to hormonal status. Nutrients, in turn, are important regulators of IGF-IGFBP system which are critical regulators of growth. Genetic factors seem to be very important determinant of final stature in countries with high quality of life at variance with underprivileged countries where food intake deficiency is critical. The aim of our study was to evaluate the influence of environ...

Background: Patients with neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) and acromegaly are commonly treated with somatostatin analogs (SSAs), such as octreotide and lanreotide depot formulations. The Pharmathen syringe is now available in several European countries and the USA for lanreotide depot injection. When using SSAs, confidence in and ease of use with syringes are important for decision-making in long-term therapy. The aim of the PRESTO 3 study was to compare nurses’ preference f...

The impact of GH/IGF-1 levels on skeletal muscle in patients with acromegaly is still matter of debate. Recently, temporal (TMT) and masseter muscle thickness (MMT) have emerged as reliable indicators of muscle mass, as well as patients’ functional status/prognosis in various clinical context – especially in the oncologic setting. This study aims to investigate the potential correlations between TMT/MMT and patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics. A r...

Background: Somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) are first-line standard-of-care therapies for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs), showing efficacy in tumour and symptom control with an established safety profile. However, disease progression may occur despite standard-dose SRL treatment, requiring more aggressive and toxic treatments. Retrospective/non-randomized data suggest higher-dose SRLs may benefit patients with GEP-NETs who do not respond to stand...

Background: Octreotide s.c. depot is a novel, ready-to-use formulation administered via a thin needle, which may allow self-administration. In a phase 1 study in healthy volunteers, octreotide s.c. depot provided greater bioavailability with faster onset and greater IGF1 suppression than long-acting octreotide. Here, we present data from a phase 2 study evaluating pharmacokinetics (PK), efficacy, safety, and tolerability of octreotide s.c. depot in patients with acromegaly and...