Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: A role of IgG4 in Graves’ disease (GD) has been proposed, although the available data are conflicting. In addition, an association between Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) and IgG4-related disease has been postulated, but no firm demonstration has been obtained. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role of IgG4 in GD.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional investigation in 351 consecutive patients (F=284, M=67; age 48.2...

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Graves’ Orbitopathy (GO), supporting the use of antioxidants in GO patients. Selenium has a beneficial effect, but other antioxidants have not been investigated. Here we evaluated several antioxidants in primary cultures of orbital fibroblasts from GO patients and control subjects. The following substances were tested: Vitamin C (Vit-C), N-Acetyl-l-Cysteine (NAC), melatonin (Mel), retinol (Ret), beta-carotene (b...

Background: Obesity is a major public health issue frequently associated with increased complication rates after elective general surgery. Previous reports on complications after thyroid surgery in obese patients were performed on selected cohorts. In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and postoperative morbidity after thyroid surgery in a large cohort of consecutive patients.Materials and Methods: A single-ce...

Background: Sirolimus is an immunosuppressive drug with anti-fibrotic and anti-proliferative activities. In vitro, sirolimus inhibits differentiation of orbital fibroblasts from patients with Graves’ orbitopathy (GO), suggesting a possible use in clinical practice.Methods: We performed a retrospective investigation aimed at evaluating the effects of sirolimus as a second-line treatment for moderate-to-severe, active GO, compared with methyl...

Purpose: From a clinical perspective, the full spectrum of Sars–CoV–2–infected patients has not yet been defined. This study aimed to evaluate whether liver density on computed tomography (CT) scan and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) values can explain the clinical variability of COVID–19 cases.Methods: We performed a retrospective study including SARS–CoV–2–infected patients hospitalized from March 2020 to Ma...

Introduction: The use of multigene panels in thyroid nodule diagnosis is still limited, due to high costs and need for ad hoc sampling. Since BRAF-V600E is the commonest genetic alteration in differentiated thyroid cancer, this is the mostly tested genetic parameter in clinical practice.Aim: To evaluate the use of BRAF mutation analysis in wash-out liquid from fine needle aspiration (FNA) in clinical practice, characterizing th...

Introduction: At present, only eight men with loss-of-function mutations in the CYP19A1 gene have been described. Here we report the genetic study of four adult men with undetectable serum estrogens, unfused epiphyses, eunuchoid skeletal proportions, continuing linear growth, tall stature, genu valgum, osteoporosis, obesity and achantosis nigricans. Patient 1 (26-years/182 cm) and 2 (28-years/187 cm) are from Turkey with a history of consanguinity. Patient 3 (44-years...

Background: Patients thyroidectomized for thyroid cancer need variable doses of levothyroxine (LT4) to obtain TSH suppression. A predetermined thyroid function set-point for each individual has been hypothesized, suggesting a genetic influence in the regulation of pituitary-thyroid axis. We hypothesized of the TRHR gene could be associated with a different hypothalamo-pituitary sensitivity to the negative feedback of the thyroid hormones.<p class=...

Background: Insulinoma is a rare pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor but a life-threatening condition if untreated. Surgical resection is the standard of care with a high cure rate for benign insulinomas but complications can occur in nearly 30% of cases. New non-surgical mini-invasive ablative therapies can be considered in patients with benign insulinoma who are either unfit for surgery or refuse it, although current data are scarce and long-term outcomes are unknown.<p clas...

Background: Survivors with Fontan circulation suffer from chronic systemic hypoperfusion resulting in end-organ injury. Little is known about the effects of these hemodynamic perturbations on bone. We hypothesized that chronic Fontan circulation (>5 years after surgery) would be associated with bone deficits.Methods: Peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) was performed on 10 Fontan patients (seven males, 11.8±1.7 years) and 11 health...