Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Several studies have examined the association of the common PvuII polymorphism of the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) gene with the risk of stroke. Data linking the polymorphism with the severity and outcome of cerebrovascular disease is lacking. We looked for possible associations of the PvuII polymorphism with stroke severity and short-term prognosis in a cohort of female stroke patients.Patients-Methods: We studied 302 postmenopausal ...

Background: One in 10–30 women in general population has Hashimoto’s (chronic) thyroiditis. Development of thyroid dysfunction depends on age. The ratio of woman around 50 with TSH elevation is 10% in general population. Menopause occurs at this age for most women. Many symptoms of hypothyroid state are similar to symptoms of menopause except hot flashes and night sweats. We analyzed the relationship of Hashimoto’s disease and menopausal symptoms.<p class="a...

Disturbances of thyroid hormones produce clinical symptoms but hormonal level at which this happens vary from patient to patient. In order to determine how much hormonal change patients can tolerate before developing symptoms we retrospectively collected data of 86 hyperthyroid and 48 hypothyroid patients, 120 females and 14 males aged 28–85 and 23–74 yrs respectively. We included only patients who at some time during treatment had abnormal values of TSH and/or thyro...

Introduction: DHEAS is among the most abundant sex steroid products of the adrenal gland. DHEAS levels have been repeatedly associated with cardiovascular disease, but data concerning cerebrovascular disease, especially in women, is lacking. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of DHEAS in a female population suffering an acute stroke.Patients and methods: We studied 302 consecutive female patients presenting with an acute stroke hospitalized ...

Osteoporosis can be caused by many miscellaneous factors. These factors include medical, lifestyle and socioeconomic variables, the latest being not well studied and defined in international bibliography. From these there are the factors regarding the working environment (house or office) and the living environment (urban or countryside). Our hypothesis is based on the fact that women living in an urban environment or working in an office environment should have lower Bone Min...

One microgram ACTH (adrenocorticotropin) test is considered to have higher sensitivity for early diagnosis of subclinical hypoadrenalism. In the test, the response of total serum cortisol concentration after ACTH application is evaluated. The concentration of total cortisol in serum is influenced by various diseases and drugs (containing oestrogens) that affect the concentration of cortisol binding proteins and subsequently measured cortisol levels. By routine laboratory metho...

Hyperinsulinism in Infancy (HI) is a potentially-lethal condition of neonates and during early childhood. For many years the pathophysiology of this disorder was unknown. Recent advances in genetics, histopathology and molecule physiology have now revealed the causes of HI in a large cohort of patients. This review focuses upon the relationship between the basis of HI and current treatment options. From defects in ion channel subunit genes to lesions in the control of pancreat...

Studies in vitro have highlighted the potent anti-cancer effects of the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3). However, the in vivo application of 1,25D3 and its synthetic analogs remains problematical due to persistent hypercalcaemic side-effects. Recent studies have shown that it may be possible to overcome this in an autocrine fashion via extra-renal synthesis of 1,25D3. In particular, analysis of prostate and co...

Introduction: Pheochromocytoma (PHEO) is a rare tumor of chromaffin cells with variable clinical presentation. Adrenal PHEOs secrete excessive amounts of noradrenaline or of noradrenaline plus adrenaline, whereas extra-adrenal PHEOs (paragangliomas) mostly secrete noradrenaline alone due to lack of expression of phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT), the key enzyme converting noradrenaline into adrenaline. We report two exceptional cases of paragangliomas responsible f...

Objective: This study was designed to determine whether TRAb levels are correlated with the activity and severity of Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO).Subjects and Methods: The subjects were 179 untreated Graves’ disease patients. TRAb was assayed with Elecsys TRAb at the initial visit, and an ophthalmic assessment was performed within 3 months. The activity of the ophthalmopathy was assessed by clinical activity scores (CASs) and MRI T2 relaxation t...