Endocrine Abstracts

17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) is currently used as a diagnostic parameter in children and young adults when a milder form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH, late-onset) is suspected. A basal serum level of 17OHP (2 ng/ml; 6.0 nmol/l, respectively) has been discussed as cut-off for suspected late-onset disease. We analysed 17OHP in a cohort of children and adolescents without CAH and in confirmed CAH patients to define reference ranges for these age...

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary androgen measurements via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry as a non-invasive tool for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the assessment of metabolic health.Methods: Saliva and serum samples of 274 patients with PCOS fulfilling Rotterdam criteria and 51 BMI-matched, premenopausal, healthy controls were analysed for steroid hormones using liquid chromatography/mass spectro...

Introduction: Contradictory associations between sleep disturbances and changes in cortisol levels or unfavourable metabolic conditions like obesity and diabetes mellitus have been observed.The aim of the present study was to examine salivary cortisol in persons with reduced sleep quality and to evaluate the relationship between sleep quality and metabolic parameters.Methods: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PQ8I) was used in 15...

Introduction: Accumulating evidence suggests an association of vitamin D with insulin resistance (IR) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The role of PTH in insulin metabolism is less clear. We aim to study the association of PTH and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with metabolic and endocrine parameters in a cohort of PCOS women.Methods: We measured PTH and 25(OH)D levels in 544 PCOS and 139 healthy control women within the same age ran...

Objective: Studies in rodents indicate a role of vitamin D in male reproduction but the relationship between vitamin D and androgen levels in men is largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels with testosterone, FAI (free androgen index), and SHBG. Moreover, we examined whether androgen levels show a similar seasonal variation to 25(OH)D.Design: In this cross-sectional study, 25(OH)D, testosterone, ...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting about 5-10% of women. PCOS is characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory disturbances, and polycystic ovaries. Many women with PCOS present with insulin resistance and central obesity and are at an increased risk for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Vitamin D deficiency is an important pathogenetic factor in the development of type II diabetes. The aim of the study was to...

Sarcopenia is a degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality, and strength. It increases the risk of falls and fractures, is associated with cardiac and respiratory disease and cognitive impairment and leads to mobility disorders. It decreases quality of life, leads to loss of independence, placement in long-term care and finally death. A variety of indices and parameters can be used to define sarcopenia. According to literature, matrix-GLA-protein (MGP) is associated wi...

Thyroid hormone (TH) signaling is essential for nervous system development. The clinical relevance of this simple statement is underscored by the severe neurological phenotypes resulting from global TH deficiency or perturbed local TH signaling during fetal development. A major aim of our research is to better understand the local action of TH during early human cortex development using cerebral organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) as a model sys...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder affecting 10-15% of women worldwide, characterized by high androgen levels, anovulation and/or polycystic ovarian morphology. Chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with the disorder as well as many of its comorbidities, such as obesity and type-2 diabetes. To determine the role of the immune system in the pathophysiology of PCOS, we characterized the immune profile of the dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-induced PCOS-li...

Perturbation of thyroid hormone (TH) function during prenatal brain development can cause a spectrum of neurological disorders as evident in pediatric patients with untreated congenital hypothyroidism or patients with mutations in THRA and SLC16A2 genes. However, scarcity and inaccessibility of human brain tissue from early developmental stages has been a major roadblock for experimental approaches to decipher local TH action in early development. Advanced <e...