Endocrine Abstracts

All domains of life feature diverse molecular clock machineries that synchronize physiological processes to diurnal environmental fluctuations. However, no mechanisms are known to cross-regulate prokaryotic and eukaryotic circadian rhythms in multi-kingdom ecosystems. We discovered that the intestinal microbiota, in both mice and humans, exhibits diurnal oscillations, leading to time-specific compositional and functional profiles over the course of a day. The active phase of t...

Abstract: Inflammation plays a contributing role in the pathogenesis of several metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and obesity. Intriguingly, obesogenic diets induce markers of hypothalamic inflammation and neuronal injury in both rodents and humans, suggesting that targeting inflammatory pathways in the hypothalamus might represent a novel strategy to control energy metabolism. Unfortunately, the majority of steroid-based anti-inflammatory drugs are fraught with a...

Introduction: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is one of the most important inhibitory co-receptors. Studies show that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway regulates the induction and maintenance of peripheral tolerance and protects tissues from autoimmune attack in physiological conditions. Several studies have shown association of PD-1/PD-L1 pathway with several autoimmune diseases although, to date, no such studies have been performed for Graves’ disease (GD).Aims: T...

Introduction: Th17 cells and their hallmark cytokine IL-17A were reported to be involved in the development of autoimmune orchitis and encephalomyelitis by impairing the integrity of the blood–testis and blood–brain barrier integrity and by inducing local inflammation. However, the role of IL17A in autoimmune thyroid disease is still debatable.The aim of our study was to estimate immunoexpression of IL-17A in the thyroid tissue of patients with...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cause of cancer death in developed countries. Our RNAseq analysis identified a novel long non-coding RNA, IRX4lncRNA at chromosome 5p15. The expression of IRX4lncRNA was much higher in prostate tumor samples (n=50) compared to their matched controls. Moreover, knockdown of lncRNA reduced the cell proliferation of LNCaP cells and this lncRNA was down-regulated in the cells undergoing Epithelial ...

Objective: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a hallmark of the metabolic syndrome and has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality. Although glucocorticoids and growth hormone are known to be implicated in its pathophysiology, it has only rarely been investigated in the context of patients with pituitary insufficiency or former cortisol excess.Design: Case-control study, including patients with biochemically control...

Introduction: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic, heterogeneous, connective tissue disorder most commonly caused by mutations in type I collagen genes. A hallmark of disease is frequent fractures that are precipitated by minimal trauma. There are limited data on the impact of OI on non-skeletal outcomes across the lifecourse. We present cross-sectional data of one of the largest single centre patient cohorts of OI in adulthood (n=186).The aim of this study was ...

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is the underlying diagnosis in most newborns presenting with 46,XX disorders of sex development (DSD). Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase deficiency (PORD) is a rare form of CAH caused by inactivating mutations in the POR gene. The hallmark feature of PORD is combined sex-steroid and glucocorticoid deficiency due to impairment of CYP17A1 and CYP21A2. Skeletal malformations resembling the Antley-Bixler Syndrome phenotype are common i...

Pituitary tumor-transforming gene binding factor (PBF) is a ubiquitous glycoprotein which is over-expressed in thyroid, breast and other endocrine cancers, and modulates cellular invasion, radioiodine uptake and thyroid hormone efflux. Papillary thyroid cancer patients with high PBF expression show decreased disease-specific survival compared to those with lower expression. PBF expression has recently been correlated with breast cancer metastasis and colon cancer extra-mural v...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy that is associated with an adverse metabolic profile including insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia. Hyperandrogenism is the hallmark of PCOS and obesity increases androgen synthesis, partly due to accompanying hyperinsulinemia but also as a result of adipokines affecting ovarian steroidogenesis (Comim et al., 2013, PLoS ONE 8(11). Adipokines are factors secreted by adipose tissue and while a clear link betwe...