Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Clinical and laboratory hyperandrogenisms indistinctly contribute to PCOS diagnosis; however, they differ in hormonal and metabolic correlates and require proper therapeutic strategies. Circulating biomarkers of hirsutism were not identified so far, with elevated testosterone being observed only in half of hirsute patients. Reasons for such inconsistencies possibly relies in previously used immunoassays, nowadays recognized as not adequate because of poor reliabi...

Background: Many questions concerning polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) remain unsolved, such as the long-term evolution of cardiovascular (CV) risk markers and the risk for CV events.Methods: A total of 119 PCOS patients diagnosed in 2009 by NIH criteria at our Unit were evaluated at baseline for cardiovascular risk markers (hypertension, diabetes mellitus-DM, dyslipidaemia, obesity, carotid intima media thickness-cIMT, and epicardial fat thickness-EFT) ...

Context: Autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS) has been associated with a higher prevalence of osteoporosis and fragility fractures in several studies. However, the data rely on heterogeneous studies and criteria for osteoporosis screening in this population are still debated.Objective: To assess the prevalence of fragility fractures and contributing factors in a large cohort of patients with adrenal incidentalomas.Methods: We review...

Background and aim: The relationship between sarcopenia and overt cortisol excess as in Cushing’s syndrome is well-known. However, only a few studies investigated the relationship between autonomous cortisol secretion (ACS) in adrenal incidentalomas and skeletal muscle mass. The aims of our study were to analyze the skeletal muscle mass in patients with adrenal incidentalomas and to investigate the correlations with hormonal data.Methods: We enrolle...

Background: Very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) was shown to be effective in reducing weight and insulin resistance (IR) in obese patients. Considering that IR is very common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and that IR worsens hyperandrogenism, ovulatory disfunction, and body fat accumulation, conceivably VLCKD could alleviate PCOS manifestations in the obese phenotype.Objective: This study compared the effects of a commercial VLCKD (...

Background: Adrenal insufficiency patient (AIP) care is mostly based on symptoms or clinical signs of inadequate glucocorticoid replacement treatment (GRT). Salivary cortisol (F) and cortisone (E) recently emerged as new tools for AIP management, although poorly employed in clinical practice.Aim: To assess associations between salivary glucocorticoid measures and life quality, anxiety depressive symptoms, sleep quality in AIP.Metho...

Background: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infection is strongly associated to erectile dysfunction (ED) in men. Preliminary data suggests that ED is poorly associated with serum T in HIV+ men.Aim: To investigate in HIV-infected men the relationship between sexual function as assessed by the validated International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-15) and T deficiency using Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).<p class="abste...

The comprehension of the network of metabolic processes may help the understanding of the molecular pathways driving obesity and related complications. However this is a hard task due to the large number of actors and their complex interplay. We aimed at exploring by targeted metabolomic the circulating metabolite profile in lean (NW, n=42; BMI: 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) and age-matched overweight/obese (OB, n=37, BMI≥25.0 kg/m2), drug...

Recently, liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was stated to be the method of choice to measure sex steroids.1 Information on the mutual agreement of LC–MS/MS methods, however, is scarce. Therefore, we compared seven published LC–MS/MS methods for the simultaneous measurement of testosterone, androstenedione, and DHEA. Fifty-five random serum samples obtained from volunteers were analysed in duplicate by seven published LC&#1...

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is involved in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. Increased level of EC lipid mediators anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachydonoylglycerol (2AG) and/or a higher expression of cannabinoid receptor type 1 in central and peripheral districts are supposed to contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity and related dismetabolism. To understand the ECS response to insulin signal and to anthropometric and biochemical parameters...