Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) frequently exhibit elevated urinary calcium excretion, contributing to kidney stone formation and osteoporosis. The underlying mechanism of hypercalciuria in β-thalassemia remains elusive, with FGF23 playing a potential role. FGF23, a bone-derived hormone, primarily acts on the kidneys by inhibiting phosphate reabsorption in the proximal tubules while enhancing calcium uptake in the distal tubules....

Introduction: The classical replacement therapy for hypoadrenalism may expose patients to non-physiologic glucocorticoids levels with negative metabolic consequences. Up to now, one study demonstrated that, as compared to the classical treatment, a modified-release hydrocortisone (MRH), improves weight, blood pressure, glycaemic control and QoL in a 3-month follow-up period. Few data are available on the long-term persistence of these benefits.Design/met...

Introduction: The role of glucocorticoids in the regulation of GH secretion is not well defined. Hypercortisolism inhibits GH secretion, but also hypocortisolism is correlated with impaired GH response to dynamic tests. This study was aimed to evaluate the GH reserve after GHRH+arginine test in patients with Addison’s disease (AD) and in operated patients with Cushing’s disease (CD).Design: Twelve AD patients (6M, 6F, aged 52±3.4 years, BM...

Hypogonadism occurs in myotonic dystrophy (DM) type 1 and 2, a multisystemic autosomal dominant disorder. DM patients have genetically induced insulin-resistance (IR) and visceral obesity, providing a model to study the impact of metabolic disruptions on hypogonadism. We assessed hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function and metabolic features in 22 DM1 and 8 DM2 males (mean±S.D., 46±11years). Hypogonadism, defined as total testosterone (T)<320 ng/dl...

An augmented cardiovascular risk is present in adrenal incidentalomas (AI), as in overt hypercortisolism. Recent studies recommended epicardial fat (EF) thickness as a new marker of visceral adiposity and an indicator of cardiometabolic risk.In this study, we evaluated the possible relationship between EF thickness, indices of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and adipocytokines levels in AI.We studied 26 patients with AI (62.3&#17...

Congenital hypothyroidism is frequently associated with congenital cardiac malformations (CCM). Studies in knock-out mice showed that heart and great vessels organogenesis share some nuclear transcription factors with the embryonic thyroid, suggesting that thyroid defects may have a higher prevalence in children with CCM. The present study investigated thyroid function and morphology in 280 children (145 M/135 F, aged 0.3–12 years), affected by CCM (septal defects, ductus...

An increased cardiovascular risk has been described in patients (pts) with adrenal incidentaloma (AI), similarly to pts with overt Cushing’s syndrome (CS). Some echocardiographic abnormalities and alterations in adipokine secretion involved in insulin resistance, inflammation and atherosclerosis have been reported in pts with CS. In this study the possible correlation between echocardiographic parameters and adipokine levels in pts with AI was evaluated.<p class="abst...

Introduction: Acromegaly patients (ACRO) show increased morbidity that affects health and quality of life (QoL). Elderly ACRO are going to increase in the next few years, but evidence regarding their management is lacking.Aim: To evaluate physical, functional and cognitive performances of elderly ACRO and the relationship with QoL.Methods: Multicenter case-control study conducted on 42 older ACRO (≥ 65 years) compared to an a...

Introduction: Accurately discern malignant from benign nodules sometimes represents a real challenge. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, ultrasound and The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) allow for accurate diagnosis in 60–80% of all nodules. However, 10–20% of thyroid FNAs yield an indeterminate cytology (BSRTC III and IV categories). The real malignancy rate of BSRTC III category is difficult to ascertain because histopathological anal...

Patients with prolactinomas may develop acromegaly during D2-agonists (DA), suggesting the existence of somatomammotroph adenomas with asynchronous secretion of GH and PRL. This may be due to the acquisition of somatotroph characteristics by lactotroph cells or to GH co-secretion by somatommammotroph cells unmasked after PRL inhibition by DA. The prevalence of silent acromegaly in prolactinomas during DA is 4.1%. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the somatotroph axis i...