Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) test does not reliably distinguish between Cushing’s disease (CD) and normality or pseudo-Cushing state (PC). In this study we assessed whether the application of novel criteria could enhance its diagnostic performance.Design: Retrospective study.Patients: Fifty-one subjects with CD, 26 with PC and 31 control subjects (CT).Measurements: All subjects un...

The aim of the present study was to measure free thiols content, Na+/K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase activities in human spermatozoa of asthenozoospermic patients and normospermic donors, and evaluate any influence on kinetic sperm features, as well as correlation with peroxynitrite. In fact, membrane integrity and its composition are the basic characteristics of the sperm membrane, thus, it is evident that its composition is an important factor for mem...

Background: The development of a vascular supply is a critical factor in the growth and metastatic spread of malignant tumors. The recognition of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway as a key regulator of angiogenesis has led to a considerable efforts to exploit its potential for therapy in oncology. Endocrine gland-derived (EG-VEGF) has been recently identified as an endothelial cell mitogen, predominantly expressed in steroidogenic tissues; it represents a n...

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene polymorphisms have been associated with interindividual variations in glucocorticoid sensitivity in healthy individuals.Aim: Aim of this study was to investigate whether there was an association with sensitivity to glucocorticoids and bone mineral density in HPA axis disorders.Methods: We analyzed 3 polymorphisms of the GR gene (Bcl1, N363S, ER22/23EK) in 185 subjects: 52 patients with Cushing&#146...

Cushing’s disease (CD) occur more frequently in females than in males, but in men this disease seems appear at a younger age and with more severe symptoms and clinical course. Aim of this study was to compare clinical features and biochemical indices of hypercortisolism in male and female patients with CD.Methods: Forty-five patients (35 females and 10 males) with confirmed CD were analyzed. All patients underwent a complete biochemical and endocrin...

Background: ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas represent two-thirds of Cushing’s syndrome (CS), the so-called Cushing’s disease (CD). These tumors are sometimes >10 mm in maximal diameter (macro-CD), but the majority of them are <10 mm (micro-CD). The aim of this study was to compare baseline characteristics of patients with micro-CD and macro-CD.Materials and methods: Clinical, hormonal and radiological data of 226 patients with CD were...

Background: The recommended first-line screening tests for Cushing’s syndrome (CS) are serum cortisol after 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test (FDST), urinary free cortisol (UFC), and late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC). CS is often diagnosed late: the clinical presentation of endogenous hypercortisolism overlaps with common clinical conditions.Methods: We analyzed the diagnostic test accuracy of FDST, UFC, and LNSC in patient...

Introduction: Pasireotide is the first pituitary-directed drug approved for Cushing’s disease (CD). We report our 10-years experience with pasireotide in CD reviewing and analysing data about all the patients treated with pasireotide at our referral centre both in randomised trials and in clinical practice.Patients and methods: Twenty active CD patients were treated. Fourteen patients were treated with pasireotide in randomised trials and six patien...

Introduction: New onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a recognized metabolic complication of kidney transplantation: its rates at 12 months after transplantation is between 20 and 50% for kidney recipients and it is associated with increased risks of graft rejection, infection, cardiovascular disease and death. Transplant-specific risk factors for NODAT,such as corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, play a dominant role in its pathogenesis. Furthermore polymor...

Inflammation activates a variety of inflammatory cells, which induce and activate several oxidant-generating enzymes which are able to produce high concentrations of free radicals and oxidants which react with each other to generate other more potent reactive oxygen and nitrogen species such as peroxynitrite (ONOO−) that can damage DNA, RNA, lipids, and proteins by nitration, oxidation, etc., leading to increased mutations and altered functions of enzymes and ...