Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Zinc-α2 glycoprotein (ZAG) stimulates lipid loss by adipocytes and may be involved in the regulation of adipose tissue metabolism. We analyze ZAG expression levels in adipose tissue from a group of morbidly obese patients, and their relationship with lipogenic and lipolytic genes and with insulin resistance (IR).Design: mRNA expression levels of PPARgamma, IRS-1, IRS-2, lipogenic and lipolytic genes and ZAG were quantified in visceral (VA...

Hypopituitarism is associated with increased morbidity and mortality compared to healthy population. However, the factors influencing prognosis are still not well known.Objectives: To determine the causes of mortality in adult patients with hypopituitarism and compare the mortality rate with general populationTo identify the factors associated with mortality and survival.Patients: Two hundred and nine adult p...

Data on the quality of life (QoL) of patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFA) are sparse and conflicting. We have therefore evaluated the QoL in patients with NFAs followed-up in a tertiary UK referral centre and explored the impact of various factors. Three validated questionnaires (Short Form 36-SF36, Nottingham Health Profile-NHP and European Quality of Life Scale-EuroQoL) were offered to consecutive NFA subjects attending outpatient clinics over a 6-month peri...

Background: Dopamine agonists are first-line agents for the treatment of prolactinomas and sometimes are used in patients with acromegalia. There is evidence that these drugs, especially cabergoline, are associated with an increased risk of new cardiac valve regurgitation in patients treated for Parkinson’s disease.Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of cardiac valve regurgitation in patients with prolactinomas and acromegalia tr...

Background: Endothelial dysfunction may have deleterious effect cardiovascular pathology in diabetic patients.Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) exerts beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system in part by exerting antioxidant activity. Recently it was reported that ANP is able to exert an antihypertrophic effect in myocitos at least in part due to inhibition of NADPH oxidase and superoxido generation.It seems that hyperglucemia...

Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator which has shown to decrease bone resorption, increase bone density and reduce vertebral fracture rate in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Recent studies have shown a decrease on breast cancer incidence after raloxifene treatment. Although the mechanism is not clear, its mixed agonist and antagonist properties in different tissues could partially explain this effect.Objective: To evaluate the ef...

Case 1: Thirty-eight year woman consulted to gynecologist for oligomenorrhea in the last 4 years; PRL 51 μg/l and TSH 8.4 mU/l were discovered, initiating treatment with levotiroxine (f-T4). She got pregnant, persisting elevated levels of TSH and increasing f-T4, with normal campimetry. With the diagnostic of hyperthyroidism due to inadequate TSH secretion, treatment with PTU was initiated. After normal delivery, MRI showed a 22 mm. hypophisary macroadenoma and a transesp...

Introduction: An insulin therapy protocol (ITP) was created during 2007 in our hospital by endocrinologists, internal physicians and nurses. The aim was to establish the basal-bolus therapy as the treatment for the non-critical diabetic in-patients in order to ease the management and lead a better glycemic control of these patients. A poster was presented to all the hospital departments in several meetings during 2008. This poster showed the way to calculate the initial insuli...

Objectives: To valuate the insulin treatment intensification efficacy (from three premixed insulin doses to basal-bolus therapy) in type 1 and 2 diabetic patients wrongly controlled.Material and methods: The 61 patients were included. 29 (47.5%) type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and 32 (52.5%) type 2 DM, attended in the Day Diabetes Hospital (DDH) during 2008. 50.8% were females and 49.2% were males. Mean age was 34.2±14.4 in type1 DM and 63.6±8.6 ...

Insulin continuous s.c. infusion (ICSI) is an alternative therapy in selected diabetic patients when a good metabolic control is not achieved with multiple insulin doses (MID). We report the follow-up of patients with ICSI at least during 1 year in our centre.Patients and methods: Twenty-five patients (16 females, 9 males), with median age 38.4±12.5 years and diabetes evolution mean time 16.8±7.8 years, were changed from MID to ICSI due to defi...