Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: In 2009 the Endocrine Society’s clinical practice guidelines for management of hypoglycemic disorders, confirming previous suggestions, have stated that the new cut-off of insulin for the diagnosis of insulinoma should be lowed to 3 μU/mL in presence of hypoglycemia (serum glucose ≤55 mg/dL). Moreover hypoglycemia in post-prandial status has been reported in insulinoma, alone or associated with fasting hypoglycemia. Finally preexisting diabetes me...

Background: Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a common disease in acromegaly and it can persist during remission in up to 58% of the patients. Data regarding long term outcome of SAS in acromegalic patients are lacking. Moreover it is still unknown which component, either craniofacial deformation or soft tissue hypertrophy of the palate and upper airways, may play the major role in the pathogenesis of this complication.Aim: To assess the presence of SAS in a...

Hypoparathyroidism is characterised by parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels inadequate to maintain plasma calcium concentration within the normal range. Even if the conventional treatment with calcium supplements and active vitamin D analogues is usually able to maintain normocalcemia, episodic low plasma calcium, neuromuscular complaints, renal disease and gastric discomfort are not infrequent. 29 patients with post-surgical hypoparathyroidism were started on PTH 1–34 therap...

Introduction: Ultrasoundelastography (USE) evaluates the tissue elasticity according to the local tissue displacement after a small compression applied by an ultrasound transducer. This technique is based on the concept that a hard lesion is associated to a higher risk of malignancy. The USE has been recently applied for characterization of thyroid nodules. The aim of our preliminary study was to assess the validity of USE for screening benign and malignant thyroid nodules.</p...

Human type 2 deiodinase (hD2) regulates T3 production in placenta during trophoblast development. hD2 mRNA and protein levels are elevated only during the first trimester of gestation then becoming barely detectable. These variations are similar to those of chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a well-known marker of early gestation secreted by the cytotrophoblast. A peculiar promoter architecture of the gene encoding the alpha subunit of hCG allows a CRE-mediated synergism between cA...

Background Ghrelin stimulates cell proliferation in a number of tissues including pituitary. AMPK, a heterotrimer kinase enzyme, is an important sensor and regulator of cellular energy balance. We have shown that ghrelin can change AMPK activity in various tissues and this mechanism could play a role in its metabolic effects. AMPK has recently been established to strongly inhibit cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. We therefore hypothesised that ghrelin stimulates cell proli...

Background: Ghrelin stimulates cell proliferation in a number of tissues including pituitary. AMPK, a heterotrimer kinase enzyme, is an important sensor and regulator of cellular energy balance. We have shown that ghrelin can change AMPK activity in various tissues and this mechanism could play a role in its metabolic effects. AMPK has recently been established to strongly inhibit cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. We therefore hypothesised that ghrelin stimulates cell prol...

Background: Organ infiltration and metastasis are the only parameters defining malignancy of pancreatic endocrine tumors. Several studies had demonstrated the prognostic value of Ki-67 expression measured on histological sections obtained from the removed pancreatic endocrine tumors. We postulate that Ki-67 expression measured on fine needle aspiration cytology provides pre-operative indications of the malignancy of pancreatic endocrine tumors.Aim: Aims ...

Inhibins A and B, peptides belonging to TGF-ß superfamily, have an ubiquitous antagonist action on activin signalling. In thyroid gland, TGF-ß1 and activin mainly exert an inhibitory action on growth and function. In human thyroid, beside the presence of activin β subunits and its transductional elements (ActRI/II, SMAD), there is no evidence for α subunit expression, an essential component for inhibin A/B gathering (α-ßA/α-ßB), nor for ...

Background: Mitotane (o,p’DDD) is the reference therapy for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and should undergo metabolization in o,p’DDE and o,p’DDA to exert its anti-proliferative activity. We have previously shown that there is a link between RRM1 gene expression and o,p’DDD activity in an adjuvant setting. Aim of this study was to assess whether RRM1 gene expression is correlated to the bioavailability and cytotoxic activity of o,p’DDD and its metabo...