Endocrine Abstracts

Background: We previously reported on the efficacy, safety and Quality of Life of long-acting somatostatin analogs (SSA) and (twice) weekly pegvisomant (PEG-V) in acromegaly and improvement after the addition of PEG-V to long-acting SSA.Objective: To assess the long term safety in a larger group of acromegalic patients over a larger period of time; 29.2 (1.2–57.4) months (mean (range)).Design: Pegvisomant was added to SSA mono...

Background: Central nervous insulin is critically involved in the regulation of body weight and memory processing. Long-term administration of intranasal insulin reduces body weight in men but not in women while improving hippocampus-dependent memory processing in both genders. Here, acute effects of intranasal insulin on food intake and memory functions were studied in men and women.Methods: Thirty-two healthy, normal-weight subjects (14 men, 18 women) ...

Aim: Assessment of possible role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and aldosterone (Ald), hormones managing blood pressure and water-electrolyte balance, for clinical state and survival of patents after cardiac arrest (CA).Material and methods: Fifty-two patients after CA in the age 62±13 years, 29 patients after out-of-hospital CA, 23 after in-hospital CA. Twenty-eight patients died after CA (CA-D), 24 survived (CA-S). In each day after CA clinical sta...

Bivalent iron (Fe2+), which initiates the Fenton reaction (Fe2++H2O2+H+→Fe3++•OH+H2O), is frequently used to experimentally induce oxidative damage to macromolecules. Growth hormone (GH) and the main mediator of its action – insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) – are involved in oxidative processes, lipid peroxidation (LPO) included.The aim of the...

Iron participates in the Fenton reaction (Fe2++H2O2+H+→Fe3++•OH+H2O), the most basic reaction of oxidative stress. This transition metal is required to keep oxidative balance, although iron overload is associated with enhanced oxidative damage and cancer initiation. Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are also involved in oxidative processes, lipid peroxidation incl...

Systemic insulin is considered to serve as a major negative feedback signal in the central nervous regulation of food intake. Accordingly, euglycemic infusion of regular human insulin (RI) has been shown to reduce hunger in a dose dependent fashion. Due to its increased lipophility, the long-acting insulin analogue insulin detemir (DI) might cross the blood–brain barrier faster and in higher quantities than RI and exceed stronger anorexigenic effects. To test this hypothe...

Background: Secretory activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis typically increases during the second half of nocturnal sleep. Assuming that this rise in ACTH and cortisol levels occurs in response to the negative energy balance induced by nocturnal fasting and concomitant increases in cerebral glucose consumption during REM sleep, we examined the effects of glucose infusion on nocturnal HPA axis activity during wake and sleep periods.<p class="abstext"...

Introduction: The activity of the somatotropic system displays a secretory maximum during early sleep which is also a period known to be important for memory consolidation. Blocking of the sleep-onset associated GH-surge by somatostatin did not affect memory performance but the contribution of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) to memory processes is unclear. Here we assessed the influence of intranasal GHRH on memory function in waking subjects during the early part of t...

Introduction: In elderly humans sleep disturbances are associated with an impaired nocturnal inhibition of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and chronic diseases like metabolic syndrome and depression. Recent experiments in young and healthy subjects demonstrated that intranasal ANP inhibited stimulated cortisol secretion during wakefulness whereas administration of intranasal insulin in the evening reduced cortisol levels in the morning after undisturbed ...

Objective: Treatment with ergot-derived dopamine agonists, pergolide and cabergoline, has been associated with an increased frequency of valvular heart disease in Parkinson’s disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of valvular heart disease in patients treated with dopamine agonists for prolactinomas.Design: Cross-sectional study.Patients: We performed conventional two-dimensional and Doppler echocar...