Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Ageing and obesity are similarly characterized by metabolic impairment in terms of visceral fat, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and hypertension. Obesity is featured by endocannabinoid system (ECS) hyperactivation. Increased levels of endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG) found in obesity were variously associated to dysmetabolic features, however, it is not clear whether such associations exist in normal weight conditions. Moreover, ageing contribute in mod...

Low testosterone (T) levels are often found in obese men with metabolic abnormalities, however the mechanism underling this condition is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (CC) in increasing T levels and improving metabolic control in hypogonadal obese men with IGT or DM2. A randomized cross-over double blind controlled study was conducted in twenty obese hypogonadal caucasian men, mean age 47 ys, classified in IGT (n=11) or ...

Though LC-MS/MS is replacing immunoassays for major glucocorticoids and androgens routine assessment, the measurement of other sex steroids and precursors is still challenging and available only in experienced research laboratories. Our aim was to develop a simple-prep and rapid 2D-LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous measurement of estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17OHpregnenolone.Serum volumes of 300ul were spiked with intern...

Steroid profiling by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) offers an accurate and simultaneous detection of a panel of steroids with several advantages over traditional assays. However, only a few studies have investigated the steroid profiling in sporadic adrenocortical adenomas. Our aim was therefore to investigate steroid secretion by LC–MS/MS in patients with non-secreting adrenocortical adenomas (NSA) and subclinical hypercortisolism (SH...

Hyperandrogenic disorders cause psychological implication in young girls, limiting the quality of life. Salivary cortisol (SalF) testing was proved to be useful in the evaluations of acute stress responses. Aim of this study was to investigate SalF responses to a stressor event in late adolescent females. We selected 165 drug-free females aged 16–19 years from a cross-sectional epidemiological study. Saliva was collected in the morning before and after a stressor event co...

Introduction: CBG is the main transport protein for glucocorticoids in blood. CBG gene is a member of the serine protease inhibitor family, located at chromosome 14q32. Inherited CBG deficiency (MIM 611489) is a rarely recessive disorder, and the phenotype associated includes low cortisol levels, presence of normal ACTH levels, hypotension and fatigue, although the exact pathophysiological mechanisms involved remain uncertain. We identified a family with a complex phe...

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...

The endocannabinoid system is involved in modulating many metabolic and behavioural processes. Due to the instable nature of endocannabinoids in biological fluids and to the poor sensitivity of traditional analytical technologies, little is known about physiological circulating levels of these lipid mediators. We developed and validated an ID-LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous measurement of four endocannabinoids: anandamide (AEA), 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), palmitoyl-et...

The development of a reliable and rapid method to simultaneously measure serum steroids represents a compelling challenge for modern endocrinology. Immunoassays are very sensitive methods, being widely employed in automated routine laboratories, lacking, however, in specificity due to cross-reactivity and matrix interference. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) constitutes the reference method for quantitative analysis of steroids, but time-consuming sample pre-t...

Background: Steroid profiling by mass spectrometry (MS) provided novel insights into the pathogenesis of adrenocortical tumors and hypercortisolism. The aims of the study were (I) to analyze the steroid profiling by liquid chromatography-tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) in a large cohort of patients with adrenal incidentalomas and (II) to investigate the relationship between steroid profile and clinical outcomes.Methods: We included 307 patients with mono- and bilat...