Endocrine Abstracts

Hyperprolactinemia is the most common cause of hypogonadotropic anovulation in women. It is related to an alteration of pulsatile GnRH secretion. This gonadotropic deficiency has been proposed to result from direct suppression of prolactin (PRL) on GnRH release but its mechanism remains unknown. Because GnRH neurons do not express unequivocally the PRL receptor, and are stimulated by kisspeptin (Kp) neurons which do express PRL receptors, we hypothesized that GnRH deficiency i...

Malignant pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGLs) are rare diseases with a heterogeneous behaviour. 131I-MIBG therapy and the cyclophosphamide-dacarbazine-vincristine chemotherapy regimen (CVD) constitute the most popular options in the metastatic setting. We have investigated the antitumor effect of temozolomide (TMZ), in patients with metastatic PPGLs. Efficacy was primary endpoint, safety and identification for prognosis factors of response were secondary endpoints.<...

Background: Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder associating pubertal failure with anosmia/hyposmia. KS is related to defective neuronal development affecting both the migration of olfactory nerve endings and GnRH neurons. The discovery of several genetic mutations responsible for KS led to the identification of signaling pathways involved in these processes, but the mutations so far identified account for only 30% of cases of KS. Here we attempted to identify new KS r...

Testicular adrenal rest tumors (TART), described in patients with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) secondary to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, are responsible for Leydig cell failure and impaired spermatogenesis. These tumors, often unresponsive to intensified glucocorticoid therapy and surgical resection, may lead to infertility or even sterility. Here, we studied the effects of long term treatment with mitotane (Lysodren), a specific adrenolytic agent, on TART in 4 C...

Background: The benefit to risk ratio of mitotane high starting dose regimen in ACC remains unknown.Methods: To evaluate a high starting dose strategy, we performed a single-center, prospective study with three main objectives: 1) to assess the time taken to reach a mitotane plasma level above 14 mg/l (benefit); 2) to evaluate mitotane tolerance (risk) in the first 3 months of treatment and 3) to analyse the correlation using a regression analysis test b...

Aims: To investigate the mechanism of α-lipoic acid (ALA) on preventing diabetes, we evaluated the effect of ALA on growth regulation and composition of skeletal muscle.Methods: OLETF and LETO rats, aged 24 weeks, were treated with or without ALA (100 mg/kg body weight/day in drinking water) and / or insulin (insulin glargine, 2 U/kg body weight/day; subcutaneous injection) for 8 weeks.Results: The treatment of ALA with or wit...

Neuroactive steroids synthesized in the brain, referred to as neurosteroids, have gained particular attention as they appear to be involved in the modulation of various neuroendocrine, behavioral and pathophysiological processes. Thus, the distribution of steroidogenic enzymes and the identification of the biochemical pathways leading to neurosteroid formation have now been almost completely elucidated in various groups of vertebrates. In contrast however, the neuronal mechani...

Background: The body mass index (BMI) is the most widely used method of assessing fat accumulation, and is recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. However, there might be substantial variations in the fat or muscle amount among persons with a similar BMI. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether BMI and skeletal muscle mass (SMM) estimated from by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) are associated with carotid atherosclerosis in...

Background: Pregnancy in women with hypopituitarism has been described as presenting high risks of maternal and fetal complications but this is only based on 2 small size series.Objective: To reassess the prognosis of pregnancy in women with hypopituitarism.Methods: Multicentric, observational, retrospective study including 39 pregnancies in 28 women with gonadotropic insufficiency and at least one other pituitary hormone deficienc...

Introduction: Calbindin-D9k is a 9 kDa polypeptide expressed in the mammalian intestine, uterus, and pituitary gland. Calbindin-D9k increase Ca2+ absorption by buffering intracellular Ca2+. The intracellular concentration of calcium is regulated by calcium related proteins such as calbindin-D9k, TRPV1 and PMCA1. The regulatory effect of steroid hormones and glucocorticoids on calbindin-D9k, TRPV1 and PMCA1 expre...