Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Melatonin is a hormone mainly synthesized and secreted by the pineal gland. It is involved in the orchestration of circadian rhythms its levels being elevated during the hours of darkness in the human. Melatonin may have other pleiotropic functions in the human organism. In particular, it may be involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and the pathogenesis of diabetes.Aim: The aim was to study the effect of melatonin on rat islet ce...

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be widely found within the population. Vitamin D deficiency was also found to be prevalent in patients with autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Vitamin D deficiency was reported in almost all patients with acute myocardial infarction in a US multicenter study. Low concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) are reported to be an independent risk factor for ca...

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism is currently a frequent disorder. In the past primary hyperparathyroidism was diagnosed late in the course of the disease. With the introduction of routine calcium measurements, as well as the awareness of the disease amongst clinicians, the disorder is frequently recognized in asymptomatic patients. Thus, the clinical profile of primary hyperparathyroidism is changing.Aim: The aim was to describe the clinical pr...

Introduction: Vitamin D is a hormone related to calcium homeostasis and normal function of the musculoskeletal system. Recently, the extraskeletal actions of vitamin D are the focus of scientific interest. The hormone is thought to possess anticancer properties, these properties being especially related to cancer of the prostate.Aim: The aim was to study the effect of vitamin D on PC3 prostate cancer cells in vitro.Methods...

Acromegaly is known to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Additionally, acromegaly is known to be associated with disordered carbohydrate metabolism. Lipid levels in acromegaly have not been extensively studied. The aim was to study lipid levels in acromegaly.Methods: In 32 patients with newly diagnosed acromegaly lipid levels were studied. In particular total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measu...

The incidental discovery of adrenal tumors in the course of computer tomography scanning for various reasons has led to the more detailed study of this type of tumors.The aim was to study the anatomical distribution of primary adrenal tumors at diagnosis.The archives of all patients with primary adrenal tumors having been hospitalized in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Metaxa Hospital, Pireaus, Greece from 01.01.2...

It has been hypothesized that prolactin may act on the immune system. It has been suggested that prolactin may act on the immune system and may be implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, as mild hyperprolactinemia has been found in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.We tested the hypothesis that prolactin may act on the immune system and induce the development of autoim...

Primary pituitary tumors are relatively rare and mainly benign.The aim was to study the primary pituitary tumors presenting during a 10-year period in a single center.The archives of all patients with primary pituitary tumors having been hospitalized from 01.01.2000 to 30.06.2010 in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Metaxa Hospital were studied. Within this cohort of patients 128 were female (63%) and 75 (37%) were ...

Low vitamin D levels have been found in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and have been correlated with poor glycemic control. There are observations suggesting that vitamin D levels may be low in obesity.The aim was to study vitamin D levels in obese individuals.The levels of 25(OH)D3 were measured in 30 obese individuals aged 42.67 years (mean), range 27–64, BMI 35.49 (mean), range 30–46 and 37 control s...

Thyroid disease epidemiology has changed recently. This change may be related to changes in the iodine status of the environment. Iodine deficiency was observed in earlier years in Greece. The progression of multinodular goiter to hyperthyroidism was frequently observed. Nowadays, the development of autoimmune thyroiditis is frequently observed in patients with simple or nodular goiter. This development may be related to the proinflammatory action of iodine, iodine being nowad...