Endocrine Abstracts

The case: The multiplex endocrine neoplasia 2A (MEN2A) syndrome is a monogenic disease caused by mutation of the RET protooncogene leading to medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), pheochromocytoma and primary hyperparathyroidism. The specific mutations determine the timing of the preventive thyroidectomy. In 2007, in a 26 year old female patient, after detailed endocrine investigation, total thyroidectomy with both sided lateral neck lymph node dissection was performed because of su...

In hypoparathyroidism, inadequate levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) result in hypocalcemia and often hyperphosphatemia. Large doses of calcium (Ca) and active vitamin D are typically used to manage symptoms, although these are often associated with complications and do not address the underlying PTH deficiency. In the phase III REPLACE trial, 24 weeks of treatment with rhPTH(1–84) was associated with maintained serum Ca without urine Ca excretion increases despite clini...

A 55 year-old man was brought to the emergency room because of hypotension, fatigue, fever and pain in the left shoulder. The blood glucose, sodium, potassium levels were normal. ECG showed 65/min sinus rhythm with negative T waves in the precordial leads. Blood pressure was 70/50 mmHg. Suddenly torsade des pointes occurred, which was converted to sinus rhythm with 300 mg amiodarone. Coronarography showed no significant stenosis on epicardial coronaries. During the interventio...

Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN-1) is a rare congenital disease with genetic background. The MEN-1 gene encodes the menin protein, which acts as a tumour suppressor. Mutation of one allele and the inactivation of the other allele of this gene lead to clonal proliferation and to the development of tumours. The clinical manifestation of MEN-1 is a combination of endocrine (most commonly parathyreoid adenomas, entero-pancreatic endocrine tumours, pituitary tumours) and non-endo...

Introduction: The thyroid is a multifaced endocrine gland. By its hormones it has an effect on almost all organs of the body, metabolism and defence system too. The relationship between the thyroid hormones and the nonspecific defence system has been less studied.Aim: To study and prove whether the endogenous thyroxin (FT4) is involved in the nonspecific defence system of the organism. We followed the correlation between the FT4 and...

Introduction: The effects of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), histamine (HA) adrenaline (ADR), noradrenaline (NADR) and K+ administration on vasopressin (VP) secretion were studied in 13–14 days cultures of rat neurohypophyseal (NH) cells, and it was examined whether orexin (ORX) can modify the VP release enhancement induced by these monoaminergic compounds.Methods: An enzymatic dissociation technique was used to prepare the rat NH cell c...

Introduction: The hypothalamic hormone orexin-A (OXA) increases food and water intake, regulates the sleep-wake cycle, muscle tone and energy balance. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important metabolic regulator with direct hypothalamic orexigenic and diverse peripheral effects including fat tissue and muscle.Aims: We aimed to study the influence of OXA on the activity of AMPK in the hypothalamus, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues, and...

Objectives: The use of levothyroxine (LT4) treatment aiming to improve fertility in euthyroid women with positive thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb), is not supported by the available evidence, however the extent to which this is applied in clinical practice is unknown. The aim of the study was to document the demographic, work-related characteristics, and therapeutic choices of European physicians in the case of euthyroid infertile women positive for TPOAb.<p class="ab...

Objectives: Some hypothyroid patients are critical of their care, although this appears to vary between countries. The quality of thyroid care delivered, and the perceived patient experience may be influenced by characteristics of specialists such as age, sex, experience, and workplace setting. Here, we aimed to explore geographical differences in thyroid specialist characteristics.Methods: THESIS is a large European questionnaire survey of thyroid speci...

Angiotensin II (AngII) mainly acts through type 1 angiotensin II receptor (AT1R) to promote a broad variety of biological effects. The vascular smooth muscle cells are one of the main target of AngII and its stimulation activates numerous signaling pathways which could result in gene expression changes in these cells. We carried out Affymetrix GeneChip experiments to analyze the effects of AngII stimulation on gene expression. More than 200 genes were upregulated in response t...