Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous condition affecting women of reproductive age. It is associated with dyslipidaemia and elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), which increase the risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD).Objective: To review the existing evidence on the effects of different pharmacological interventions on lipid profiles of women with PCOS.Data sources: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus,...

Repeated blood sampling is required in certain clinical and research settings, which is currently performed by drawing blood from venous catheters requiring manual handling of each sample at time of collection. A novel body-worn device for repeated serial samples, Fluispotter®, with automated extraction, collection and storage of up to 20 venous dried blood spot samples (DBS) over the course of 20 h may overcome problems with current methods for serial sampling. The purpo...

Introduction: Many people with type 1 diabetes continue to experience suboptimal glycaemic control. We now also know that often HbA1c levels are an inaccurate reflection of glycaemic patterns and variability. We describe here how the systematic use of the FreeStyle Libre flash monitor helped improve the glycaemic control of many people with type 1 diabetes.Methods: We report the outcomes of 92 consecutive adults (18 years of age or more) with type 1 diab...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, with insulin resistance being one of the main components. In male, MetS is also associated to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Lifestyle modifications (e.g. physical activity) could prevent or considerably reduce MetS progression, however the ability to perform physical activity is often impaired in MetS subjects.Aim: Considering the known trophic role of T ...

Pathologies of the female reproductive system, characterized by chronic pain, are frequent and it has been hypothesized that inflammation may play an essential role in their pathogenesis. It is known that androgens, including dihydrotestosterone (DHT), have shown immunomodulatory effects in experimental models of chronic inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of DHT in smooth muscle cells (rSMCs) isolated from vagina of intact Sprague-...

A 57-year-old woman with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c 148 mmol/mol) presented acutely with lower back pain, in the absence of trauma. Her WHO performance status score was 2. 18 months earlier she had developed a left fifth toe ulcer, resulting in left forefoot amputation six months later which had not healed. She had also developed a neuropathic ulcer in her right hallux, complicated by osteomyelitis. Despite excellent peripheral vasculature, conservative therapy w...

Introduction: In 2004, the WHO defined atypical pituitary adenomas (APAs) those with Ki-67 >3%, excessive p53 expression and increased mitotic activity. The usefulness of this classification is still controversial.Aim: To compare the clinical and prognostic features in a series of typical and atypical pituitary adenomas.Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 343 consecutive PAs. APAs represented 18.7% of the cases. ...

Background: The myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) or Steinert disease is the most common inherited, autosomal dominant neuromuscular disorder in adult. The gonadal dysfunction has been known for many years in DM1 men with description of bilateral testicular atrophy but the factors influencing the different profiles of gonadal dysfunction, and their natural evolution are not clearly established. The purpose of this study was to determine the profiles of gonadal function on men af...

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a diagnostic category which identifies subjects at high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, erectile dysfunction (ED) and male hypogonadism. However, MetS impact on male infertility has been poorly studied. We systematically evaluated possible associations between MetS and clinical characteristics in men with couple infertility.Methods: Out of 367 consecutive subjects, 351 men without genetic abnormal...

We tested the hypothesis that common genetic variability of β cell mass and/or function genes may influence β cell functional mass in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We studied 590 drug-naive GAD-negative patients with newly diagnosed T2DM (age: median=60.0 yrs; I.Q. range: 52–66; BMI: 29.3 kg/m2; 26.5–32.9). β cell functional mass was assessed by state-of-art mathematical modeling of glucose/C-peptide curves during a 240’ frequently sampled O...