Endocrine Abstracts

Benign Ethnic Neutropenia (BEN) is a common form of neutropenia defined as an absolute blood neutrophil count (ANC) of < 1.5 x 109/l, usually observed in Afro-Caribbeans. These patients are not at increased risk of infection despite their neutropenia, unless they are on medications which can cause neutropenia. Amongst these drugs antithyroid medications are known to cause agranulocytosis defined as ANC of <500/μl. We report a case of 24 years old male w...

Aim: Hyperinsulinaemia is frequent finding in patients with hyperprolactinemia and has associations with thyroid volume. In this study, we evaluated the association between thrombotic markers, insulin resistance, CIMT, and thyroid volume in female patients with prolactinoma.Material and methods: 38 women with prolactinoma and 24 healthy women were included to the study. We evaluated anthropometric, biochemical, hematologic and hormonal parameters as well...

Recent studies have reported that tissue micro-environment including tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as well as neo-angiogenesis played pivotal roles in biological and clinical behavior of various human malignancies. In adrenal neoplasms, TILs are far more frequently detected in cortical than medullary tumors. In adrenocortical adenomas, we have recently demonstrated that enhanced angiogenic chemokines, especially CXCL12, in cortisol producing adenoma (CPA), induced TILs...

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) are heterogeneous and have limited biomarkers to predict their behaviour, thus making their prognostication difficult. Ki-67 is a protein expressed in active phases of the cell cycle and is one of the biomarkers utilized in routine assessment of PitNET tissue. Current European Society of Endocrinology recommendations advise that histopathological analysis of PitNETs should as a minimum include Ki-67 proliferation index and anterior pi...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder featuring multiple endocrine abnormalities, comprising a decrease in IGF-I production and an increase in GH concentrations. This resistance to GH action may contribute to impaired haematopoiesis in AN as GH/IGF-I modulate blood cell proliferation and GH therapy exerts beneficial effects on hematocrit values in GH deficient patients. Aim of the present study is to evaluate the link between GH/IGF-I status and haematologic p...

Evaluation of male fertility, based on semen analysis, is complicated by high variability of semen parameters and the lack of evidence-based reference values. The standards are currently set by the WHO laboratory handbook (1999). We investigated whether taking into account abstinence time and testicular volume would reduce variation in sperm concentration / count and thereby consolidate the underlying principles of spermatogenesis.The database of our Ins...

Parathyroid carcinomas (PCas) are rare endocrine malignant neoplasia characterized by an abnormal PTH secretion and, consequently, severe and uncontrolled hypercalcemia. Clinically, the preoperative diagnosis can be misleading, because PCas share some molecular and clinical similarities with benign lesions and are often indolent. The histological diagnosis of carcinoma is achieved based on the presence of mitotic nuclear figures, capsular invasion, parenchyma infiltration, vas...

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates the presence of bidirectional cross-talks between the endocrine and the immune system. However, no data are available on the influence of either the thyroid hormones or TSH within the normal range on the immune cell function in healthy humans.Aim: To comprehensively investigate the effects of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis on the variation of immune responses in a cohort of healthy volunteers.<p cl...

Objective: Growth hormone (GH) activity might be implicated in male reproductive function. One previous study has suggested significantly reduced semen quality in untreated acromegalic patients due to both reduced sperm counts and motility.Design and methods: A retrospective study comprising 10 uncontrolled hypogonadal acromegalic patients (median age 29y) who delivered semen for cryopreservation before initiation of testosterone therapy. Semen ...

Background: Obesity is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation that contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome (MS). Resistin, produced by neutrophils and monocytes, displays potent proinflammatory properties and has been associated with cardiometabolic disease. The aim of this study was to (a) determine serum resistin levels among obese patients with or without MS and (b) explore the role of the subsets of circulating white blood cells as potential determinan...