Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Testosterone (T) is essential for bone health during all ages, helping to achieve a proper peak bone mass and, later, to maintain bone density and strength. Guidelines on management of male osteoporosis recommend testosterone replacement in young-adult hypogonadal to prevent bone loss and anti-resorbitive drugs in case of high fracture risk, but the role of T replacement therapy (TRT) alone in subjects with late onset hypogonadism is still the object of an intense ...

Objectives: BPH is characterised by prostate inflammation, which frequently occurs in men with metabolic syndrome (MetS). MetS is often associated with low testosterone (T). Recent evidence shows that low, rather than high, T is associated with BPH/lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). To evaluate if T replacement therapy (TRT) for 6 months in BPH men with MetS and low T, is able to improve LUTS and prostate inflammation.Methods: 120 men in waiting list f...

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) clusters cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors, along with hypogonadism (HG) and erectile dysfunction (ED). Lifestyle modifications, including physical exercise (PhyEx), are well-known treatments for this condition. We previously established a non-genomic, high-fat diet (HFD)-induced rabbit model of MetS that recapitulates the human phenotype, including HG and ED. We now report studies on the effect of PhyEx on hypothalamus-pituitary-testis (HPT) ...

Objective: Substitution treatment of hypogonadism in clinical and experimental models has shown beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity and accumulation of visceral and liver fat. Aim of the study was to analyze the effects of testosterone replacement therapy on benign prostatic hyperplasia/lower urinary tract symptoms (BPH/LUTS) clinical parameters, adipose tissue dysfunction and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese patients candidates for bariatric surgery.</p...

Inflammation is hypothesized to play an important role in several diseases associated to the female genital tract and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) has shown immunomodulatory protective effects in experimental models of chronic inflammation. In the present study we aimed to evaluate the potential anti-inflammatory effects of DHT in a model of smooth muscle cells (hSMCs) isolated from human vagina biopsies and their potential role as APCs (Antigen Presenting Cells), crucial for the...

The relation between sexual and cardiovascular health in women is not well defined. Clitoral colour Doppler ultrasound (CDU) with assessment of the pulsatility index (PI), reflecting resistance to blood flow, has been proposed as an objective measurement of sexual functioning. We aimed to investigate the associations between clitoral PI and cardiometabolic risk factors. Seventy-one adult heterosexual women attending our clinic for sexual dysfunction were consecutively recruite...

Expanding brown adipose tissue is a potential therapeutic strategy to counteract insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) activation enhances insulin sensitivity, suggesting the capacity of FXR/TGR5 agonists to promote brown differentiation in adipose tissue. Treatment with increasing doses of the dual FXR/TGR5 agonist INT-767 (3, 10, 30 mg/Kg bw, daily for 5 days a week, by oral gavage, for 12 ...

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 ...