Endocrine Abstracts

One of the proposed mechanisms responsible for Diabetes mellitus (DM)-associated erectile (ED) dysfunction is overactivity of RhoA/ROCK signalling. Because statins may decrease RhoA activation, we investigated whether atorvastatin ameliorated DM-induced ED in alloxan-treated (100 mg/kg) rabbits (in vitro studies) and streptozotocin-treated (STZ, 50 mg/kg) rats (in vivo studies). A subgroup of diabetic animals received atorvastatin 5 mg/kg per daily 2 weeks before...

Objectives: The physiological role of prolactin in male sexual function has not been completely clarified. Aim of this study is the assessment of clinical features and of conditions associated with hyperprolactinemia in male patients consulting for sexual dysfunction.Design and methods: A consecutive series of 2146 (mean age 52.2±12.8 years) male patients with sexual dysfunction was studied. Several hormonal and biochemical parameters were studied a...

Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are characterized by insulin resistance and often associated with male hypogonadism. To discriminate the specific contribution of T2DM and MetS to male hypogonadism.Design and methods: A consecutive series of 1134 (mean age 52.1±13 years) male patients with sexual dysfunction was studied. Several hormonal and biochemical parameters were studied along with ANDROTEST, a 12-item ...

A previous study demonstrate that chronic tadalafil administration (2 mg/kg per day) was able to prevent some, but not all, penile alterations induced by long-term (3 months) bilateral cavernous neurotomy (BCN) in the rat. In particular, in vitro acetylcholine responsiveness and reduced eNOS and nNOS expression were not preserved, while PDE5 down-regulation, along with muscle/fiber ratio and hypoxygenation (hypoxyprobe) were significantly restored by chronic tadalafil (...

Epididymis (epi) is a sex steroid-sensitive duct provided with spontaneous motility, allowing sperm transport. We previously demonstrated that human epi expresses a high abundance of mRNA for ER-alpha and ER-beta. We demonstrated that in epi estrogens up-regulate either oxytocin (OT) responsiveness, acting at the receptor level, and responsiveness to endothelin-1 (ET-1), another well-known stimulator of epididymal motility. However, we did not find any significant change eithe...

Central Hypothyroidism (CeH) is a rare thyroid hormone production defect due to an insufficient stimulation of a normal thyroid gland. Candidate genes for isolated CeH include TSHβ (several cases reported) and TRHR (only one case reported so far). Here, we report the clinical and genetic studies in 2 males and 3 females affected with isolated CeH with normal/low TSH levels (0.05–0.95 mU/L) and low FT4 levels (3.6–4.6 pM). None of the patients was detected at neo...

Objectives: The aim of present study was to verify possible differences in the prevalence of vasculogenic ED and hypogonadism comparing two distinct new definitions of MetS, as National Cholesterol Education Program-Third Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATPIII) and International diabetes Federation (IDF) in patients with sexual dysfunction.Methods: Several hormonal, biochemical and instrumental (penile doppler ultrasound) parameters were studied. ANDROTEST S...

Objectives: Detecting hypogonadism is crucial in patients with sexual dysfunctions because hypogonadism can have a causal role for them and testosterone (T) substitution represents a milestone for the therapy. At present, three different inventories have been developed for screening of hypogonadism in aging male. All these instruments demonstrated a good sensitivity but low specificity. No inventories are available for the screening of hypogonadism in patients with sexual dysf...

Objectives: To date it is not clear to which extent a clinical, or even a subclinical, sexual dysfunction in the female partner might associate with erectile dysfunction (ED) in the male partner. The present study is aimed at the assessment of clinical features of ED associated with relational disturbances.Methods: In a consecutive series of 1140 male subjects reporting a stable couple relationship we evaluated the impact of relational factors, as assess...

Fascin-1(FSCN1) is an actin-bundling protein expressed in several solid carcinomas and often associated to an invasive and aggressive phenotype as it is involved in cytoskeleton rearrangement and filopodia formation. Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare endocrine malignancy characterized by a poor prognosis, particularly when metastatic at diagnosis. Complete surgical resection of the tumor mass is the main therapy for ACC patients in addition to the adjuvant administratio...