Endocrine Abstracts

Acromegalic patients under treatment with Octreotide LAR (Oct), 10, 20 or 30 mg were switched to Lanreotide Autogel 120 mg (Lan) at different dose intervals: 56, 42 and 28 days respectively. Just before the fourth Lan injection, IGF-I values were measured and the dose interval for the final three injections adjusted accordingly: if IGF-I values were between 1 and 2 standard deviations (S.D.) above the age and sex related mean value, no change in dose-interval wa...

Background: Leptin has multiple functions including modulating energy homeostasis and the immune response. Leptin is an important target for therapy to modulate the immune response in several autoimmune diseases. Although the structure of leptin is known, that of its receptor remains unsolved. The aim of this project was to express and purify the extracellular domain the leptin receptor (ObR) in order to carry out functional and crystallisation studies to elucidate the mechani...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and heterogeneous malignancy with incompletely understood pathogenesis and poor prognosis. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are routinely performed for imaging of the adrenal mass and for standard staging of chest and abdomen as lung and liver are the primary organs for metastatic spread in ACC. Contrast ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure which has been shown to have a high sensitivity an...

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is recognized as common liver disorder that represents the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome including visceral obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the progressive form of liver injury with the risk for progressive fibrosis, cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. The pathophysiology that leads to NAFLD and NASH is not well understood. We hypo...

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is recognized as common liver disorder that represents the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome including visceral obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the progressive form of liver injury with the risk for progressive fibrosis, cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. The pathophysiology that leads to NAFLD and NASH is not well understood. We hypo...

Background: Acromegaly is associated with significant excess morbidity and mortality. Surgery and radiotherapy (including radiosurgery) aim to reduce the burden of growth hormone excess while preserving normal pituitary function, but their effective deployment is dependent on high quality imaging that allows accurate localization of site(s) of active de novo or residual/recurrent disease. Despite the existence of several comprehensive guidelines on the managem...

Background and aim: Aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) is evolutionary conserved and widely distributed throughout organism. Broad interest for AIP comes from involvement of loss-of-function AIP mutations in pituitary adenoma pathogenesis. The role of AIP in normal pituitary function is largely unknown. AIP is co-localized with GH in somatotroph secretory vesicles. Serum AIP protein was proteomically identified. We aimed at investigating whether AIP and GH are...

Introduction: Pegvisomant (PEGV) is approved for the treatment of acromegaly since 2003. This is the second interim analysis of data from ACROSTUDY, with the majority of patients treated for at least five years (yrs).Methods/design: ACROSTUDY is an international, open-label, prospective, non-interventional, post-marketing surveillance study monitoring the long-term safety and efficacy of PEGV. Patients were enrolled in the study on an ongoing basis.<...

Introduction: Acromegalic patients (AP) often report fatigue and chronic subjective complaints. We aimed to investigate in more detail these aspects in AP, dependent on disease activity, age, gender, medication and pituitary insufficiency (PI).Patients/methods: Cross sectional, 124 patients (M/W 51/73, age 58.3±14.7 years, 49/75–active/controlled disease). The patients completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) and the Giessen Su...

Background: Many patients with acromegaly report limitations of long-acting somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) injections, including ongoing disease symptoms near cycle-end and injection-site pain. Oral octreotide capsules (OOC) may provide an alternative to monthly injections. The phase 3 CHIASMA OPTIMAL study assessed efficacy and safety of OOC in patients with acromegaly controlled on injectable SRLs.Methods: A multinational, randomized, placebo-contr...