Endocrine Abstracts

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) are interesting pharmacological targets for the treatment of liver and metabolic diseases. FXR-deficient mice on a high-fat diet (HFD) exhibit massive hepatic steatosis, necro-inflammation and fibrogenesis. Moreover, pharmacological activation of TGR5 in mice promotes protective mechanisms in biliary epithelial cells and inhibits hepatic and systemic inflammation. Thus, we hypothesized that a FXR/TGR5 du...

A pathogenic link between erectile dysfunction (ED) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is now well established. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the hepatic hallmark of MetS, is regarded as an active player in the pathogenesis of MetS-associated cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study was aimed at evaluating the relationship between MetS-induced NASH and penile dysfunction. We used a non-genomic, high fat diet (HFD)-induced, rabbit model of MetS, and treated HFD rabbits with t...

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors, having in insulin resistance the key element. In males, MetS is also associated to hypogonadism. We recently found that high fat diet (HFD)-induced MetS rabbits also developed hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, showing a reduced immunopositivity for gonadotropin relasing hormone (GnRH) in the hypothalamus. In this study, we investigated the pathogenetic link between Mets components and the ...

Liver and visceral ectopic fatty tissue disposition is a major metabolic derangement leading to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, recapitulated in the metabolic syndrome (MetS). We have demonstrated that the selective FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA, INT-747) ameliorates the metabolic profile and reduces visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced rabbit model of MetS. We now report the effects of OCA treatment in HFD (0.5% cholesterol and 4% p...

Introduction: Male-to-female gender identity disorder (MtF GID) is a complex phenomenon that could be better evaluated by using a dimensional approach.Aim: To explore the aggregation of clinical manifestations of MtF GID in order to identify meaningful variables describing the heterogeneity of the disorder.Methods: A consecutive series of 80 MtF GID subjects (mean age 37±10.3 years), referred to the interdepartmental Center fo...

Introduction: Childhood maltreatment is quite common and constitutes a non-specific risk factor for a range of different emotional and behavioural problems during lifespan. It has been demonstrated that sexual minorities are at higher risk of maltreatment and abuse, and a high proportion of transsexual subjects reports childhood maltreatment.Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of reported childhood maltreatment in a clinical sample of patients with male to f...

Introduction: Although penile blood flow (PBF) has been recommended as an additional diagnostic test in identifying erectile dysfunction (ED) patients at risk for latent cardiovascular disease, no study has ever assessed the possible association of PBF and the relational component of sexual function with incident major cardiovascular events (MACE).Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether severity of ED, PBF and other factors related to a coup...

Introduction: It is general acknowledgement that obesity is associated with a systemic, low-grade inflammatory state. Although the relationship between obesity and semen parameters or prostate diseases has been previously investigated, the association between body mass index (BMI), prostate inflammatory diseases and colour-Doppler ultrasound (CDU) features of the male genital tract (MGT) has been poorly studied. This study was aimed at evaluating the association between BMI an...

Introduction: Interleukin 8 (IL8) is a proinflammatory cytokine highly expressed in seminal plasma. Seminal IL8 (sIL8) has been proposed as a reliable surrogate marker of prostatitis and as a potential marker of male accessory gland infection (MAGI). So far, no study systematically evaluated the correlations of sIL8 with colour-Doppler ultrasound (CDU) features of the male genital tract. Hence, we investigated these possible correlations in infertile patients with MAGI.<p ...

Introduction: Adipose tissue dysfunction is associated to metabolic syndrome (MetS), a clustering of cardio-metaboilic risk factors, including hypogonadism. We recently demonstrated that T supplementation was able to ameliorate the metabolic profile and reduce visceral fat accumulation in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced rabbit model of MetS.Methods: We evaluated the differentiation capacity of preadipocytes (rPAD) obtained from visceral fat of the following ...