Endocrine Abstracts

Somatostatin exerts inhibitory effects on hormone secretion and cell proliferation by interacting with five different receptors (SST1–SST5) linked to effector systems via G proteins. The receptor structural domains mediating these effects have not been identified. Since SS is the hypothalamic peptide that physiologically inhibits GH secretion, aim of this study was to investigate the molecular determinants mediating the interaction of the human SST5 with G proteins and su...

Dopamine agonist cabergoline (CB) is the first-choice treatment in prolactin-secreting adenomas (PRL-omas). It is effective in reducing PRL secretion and tumour size in about 90% of patients by binding dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2). Although no mutations in DRD2 were found, it has been reported that several polymorphisms of this locus associate with alcoholism and schizophrenia, diseases in which dopaminergic system plays an important role. To assess the possible asso...

Cortisol and cortisone are interconverted by type 1 and type 2 11ßhydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11ßHSD) isoenzymes. The type 1 isoenzyme is a widely expressed reductase that converts cortisone to cortisol regulating glucocorticoid tissue exposure. Its activity is inhibited by GH and IGF-I, being increased in GH deficiency (GHD) and decreased in acromegaly. In our experience rhGH therapy unmasked a central hypoadrenal state in adults with organic GHD, likely by normal...

Long acting somatostatin analogs (SSTa) induce both GH/IGF-I reduction and pituitary tumor volume shrinkage in the majority of acromegalic patients. It is not known if SSTa might also definitively cure the acromegalic disease in at least some patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate this possibility in acromegalic patients very well responsive to chronic treatment. Thirteen acromegalic patients (4M&9F), 5 newly diagnosed and 8 previously operated but none irradia...

We previously demonstrated that acromegalic patients with normal IGF-I levels after surgery also met the current criteria for cure (i.e. postglucose GH nadir <1 μg/l) after long term monitoring. Since some Authors recently proposed to even lower the present GH nadir cut off value, the aim of this study was to confirm its adequacy to define long lasting disease remission. A group of 24 acromegalic patients (9 M&15 F, age 54.2±9.6 yrs) normal IGF-I levels and p...

Prolactin (PRL) exists in different forms in human serum. The predominant form is little PRL (23 kDa) with smaller amounts of big PRL (50–60 kDa), that may be also associated with big big PRL (bbPRL) or macroprolactin (150–170 kDa). A lower biological activity in vivo of bbPRL was reported. Aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical impact of macroprolactin and the association between macroprolactinaemia and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A group of 115 ...

Testicular adrenal rest tumours (TARTs) are benign tumours deemed to originate from ectopic adrenal cells that descend with the testes during fetal development. These cells grow under chronic ACTH stimulation, typically in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). TARTs have also been rarely described in other conditions characterised by chronically elevated ACTH, such as autoimmune primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI). These are benign lesions, but could be misdiagno...

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is showing a rapid and continuous evolution in terms of new waves, the spread of variants and the evidence of reinfections. The growing heterogeneity of clinical presentation requires the identification of underlying pathogenic mechanisms to allow a better risk stratification. Previous studies analysed the role of sex hormones in disease severity demonstrating in male patients the association of...

Background: In the last decades mini-invasive techniques have been proposed to reduce costs and complications of emithyroidectomy and thyroidectomy, both for benign nodular goiter and thyroid microcarcinoma, and image-guided laser and radiofrequency ablation are the most used.Purpose: To investigate short and long-term efficacy of image-guided laser and radiofrequency ablation as therapy options for benign nodular goiter.Methods: F...

Background: The fourth type of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) is a rare variant of MEN presenting a MEN1-like phenotype and originating from a germline mutation in CDKN1B. However, due to the small number of cases documented in literature, the peculiar clinical features of MEN4 are still largely unknown, and clear indications about the clinical management of these patients are currently lacking. In order to enlarge our knowledge on MEN4 and to better typify the clinical fe...