Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Androgen receptor (AR) activity is modulated by the length of CAG-repeat polymorphism in exon 1. Published data suggest association between CAG-repeat alleles and PCOS, but not all studies confirmed this finding.Aim: To test association of AR alleles with PCOS and clinical and biochemical signs of hyperandrogenism.Study design: Case–control association study, approved by the institutional ethical committee, of 137 ...

Introduction: Remission rate in microprolactinomas after treatment with dopamine agonists (DA) is variable, from about 25% in bromocriptine-treated patients to 46% in those treated with cabergoline.Patients: We retrospectively studied the remission rate in 98 patients with prolactinomas ≤1 cm evaluated in 1982–2009 in our department and treated with DA for at least 1 year.Results: Mean age of patients is 26.5±8 year...

Aim: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of androgen replacement therapy with oral or intramuscular (i.m.) testosterone undecanoate (T.U.) in male patients with central hypogonadism.Patients and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 40 patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: 29 with pituitary tumors or craniopharyn-giomas, 11 with non-tumoral hypogonadism (median age 47 years, range 20–62), before and after androgen replacement therapy, with the ...

Infundibulohypophysitis is an unusual inflammatory condition that affects the infundibulum, the pituitary stalk and the neurohypophisis and may be a part of a range that includes lymphocityc hypophysitis. It occurs mainly in women and most often presents in later stages of pregnancy. Infundibilohypophysitis usually presents with diabetes insipidus. The case of a 30-year-old woman with diabetus insipidus diagnosticated in the third trimester of the pregnancy is reported. She wa...

Graves’ disease (GD) and myasthenia gravis (MG) may be associated and influence one another clinical expression. We report the cases of 3 female patients who presented this particular association. First patient (RL, 55 years), was diagnosed with MG and, 5 years after, developed GD, remitted after 2 years of anti-thyroid drugs (ATD). She is still euthyroid after more than 10 years, and MG is compensated with moderate doses of anticholinesterase drugs (ACD). Thoracic CT sho...

The postpartum period is accompanied by an increased risk for autoimmune diseases. SN, 29 years of age, developed subsequent to her second pregnancy a polymorphic syndrome, characterized by fatigue, paleness, amenorrhea, agalactia, palpitations, weight loss. Hormonal investigations suggested corticotrophic, somatotrophic (basal morning plasma cortisol – 35 ng/dl, basal GH – 0.1 mIU/l, insulin-induced hypoglycemia test: plasma cortisol – 58 ng/dl, GH – 0.1 m...

We present the case of a 51 years old woman, nonsmoker, without relevant past medical history, who presented with acute psychotic state starting the third day of treatment with prednisone 30 mg indicated for allergy. She had also arterial hypertension and a significant and progressive loss of proximal muscle strength in her legs. The initial evaluation showed hyperglycemia, metabolic alkalosis and severe hypokalemia. Basal plasma cortisol was high (>90 μg/dl) and did ...

Some patients with pituitary adenomas show high CSF levels and/or high CSF/serum ratio for peptidic pituitary hormones (PR), potentially due to a blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage. We evaluated albumin.CSF/serum ratio (AR) in patients with pituitary adenomas and elevated PR, as an accurate index for a BBB damage.Patients and methods: We evaluated 10 controls (21–79 years, 6M /4 F) before undergoing abdominal or peripheral surgery and 52 patients with...

Introduction: Patients with hypopituitarism often report poor quality of life (QoL) despite adequate hormonal replacement therapy. Oxytocin, a peptide hormone produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary, has been known for its role in social and emotional behaviour. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between oxytocin and QoL domains in patients with hypopituitarism under optimal hormonal replacement therapy.<p class="abste...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the commonest cause of secondary hypertension. Reported prevalence is about 30% in hypertensive population. Success of screening for PA in general practice (GP) is unknown. Expected challenges include laboratory access, transport issues and interfering medications.Aims: We aimed to report prevalence of PA in a large primary care cohort, the correlation between GP and in-hospital ARR and to assess if a change in r...