Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid hormones (T4 and T3) have a major role in brain development, and their deficits during critical stages during the fetal and neonatal periods may cause profound intellectual and neuromotor deficits. A particular example is the X-linked Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, caused by mutations of the cellular transporter for thyroid hormone MCT8 (SLC16A2). In this presentation I will first review the pathophysiology of thyroid hormone transport and metabol...

Vitamin D has been shown not only to be important for bone and calcium metabolism but also for homeostasis of critical tissues involved in vascular disease. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the 1a-hydroxylase enzyme are present in critical cells implicated in the development of vascular disease. Vitamin D influences multiple mechanisms to decrease vascular inflammation: it suppresses the renin-angiotensin system, promotes endothelial nitric oxide release, decreases vascular in...

Intrauterine prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and release are key components of human labour at term and pre-term, resulting in synchronised membrane rupture, cervical dilation and myometrial contractility. A key mediator of uterine PG production is the highly inducible enzyme cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2 or PTGS2). Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is released by the foetus during pregnancy and amniotic fluid levels rise rapidly during late gestation, moreover EGF stimulates expression of ...

Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis hormone (SIADH) with many disorders of the nervous system have been reported frequently but its association with multiple sclerosis (MS) is extremely rare (only six cases reported in the literature).A 46 years old woman was admitted to our hospital because of hypersomnolence, confusion and visual disturbances. She presented 6 months before a variety of neurological symptoms suggestive of demyelinating disease withou...

PGE2 stimulates progesterone synthesis in the primate corpus luteum, apparently via cAMP. Human GL cells express functional EP1 and EP2 receptors via which PGE2 elevates the intracellular calcium and cAMP concentrations respectively (Harris et al, 2001, BBRC 285:1089). In the present study, we have determined the involvement of EP1 and EP2 receptors in the stimulation of cAMP accumulation and progesterone synthesis in these human ovarian cel...

Introduction: Pituitary apoplexy describes the ischemic or hemorrhagic phenomenon that occurs in a previous pituitary adenoma. It may be the first manifestation of a pituitary gland adenoma.Case 1: Female 31 years old macroprolactinoma in irregular treatment with cabergoline for three months Amenorrhea from the age of 14. Decreased visual acuity and oppressive headache. MRI pituitary apoplexy. Hospitalized and discharged with cabergoline and prednisone. ...

Introduction: Hyperprolactinemia has been associated with several metabolic abnormalities both in glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity, and in lipid profile. Moreover, it has also been reported that many of them seem to improve after normalizing serum prolactin (PRL) concentrations.Objective: To study serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride in men with prolactinoma before and after chronic treatment with cabergoline.Patient...

Context: Acromegaly associated to schizophrenia was firstly reported ~60 years ago and, so far it is unclear whether this association is causal or not.Objective: We report on three new cases and discuss the potential pathophysiological mechanisms of this association.Results: We report two males and one female diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated for several years with antipsychotics who developed acromegaly due to a GH-secretin...

Aims: To evaluate the clinical features and long-term therapeutic outcome of giant prolactinoma (gPRLoma) in men and to compare them with those of a group of male patients with non-gPRL macroprolactinomas (non-gPRLomas).Patients and methods: A retrospective and multicenter study of gPRLomas in men diagnosed in a 20-year period was performed. Clinical data and treatment outcome were registered. The diagnosis of gPRLoma was established when the maximal tum...

Thyroid hormone (TH) plays a major role in nervous system development. Its deficiency causes severe brain malfunction, which in the human results in cretinism. With the recent availability of new imaging techniques, as small animal PET, it is now possible to study cerebral metabolism in vivo. The aim of this work was to study the in vivo effect of TH on the brain of hypothyroid rats in terms of metabolic function, using PET scanning. For the experiment we used th...