Endocrine Abstracts

Background and aims: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by phenotypic heterogeneity and a wide variety of consequences. About half of PCOS women are overweight or obese and their obesity may be a contributing factor to PCOS pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate if PCOS alone affects the patients’ quality of life and to what extent obesity contributes to worsen this disease.Methods and results: In total, 200 women with PC...

Background: Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) is a useful marker of recurrent or persistent disease in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC); the presence of interfering Tg antibodies (TgAb), even in low concentrations, can lead to a distorted evaluation of this marker. However, TgAb by itself has been shown to be a marker of disease following surgery. TgAb recognition of Tg epitopes differs in pathological and non-pathological states and may thus have p...

Introduction: Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) is an innovative method for the detection of primary tumours or metastases of thyroid cancer; however, recurrence or metastases of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) are still difficult to detect.Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical use of 18F-FDG PET in patients with MTC.Patients and methods: We enr...

Background: Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is a new method employed in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The integrated FDG-PET plus computed tomography (PET/CT) fusion imaging system seems able to provide some additional advantages over PET alone, mainly related to a better anatomical localisation of the hypermetabolic metastatic lesions. The influence of serum TSH levels on 18F-FDG uptake by recurrences o...

Introduction: Papillary thyroid micro-carcinoma (PTMC) is a well-differentiated thyroid cancer ≤10 mm in diameter. The recent higher prevalence of PTMC is due to the frequent detection of micro-carcinomas as an incidental finding in surgical specimens, but especially during routine imaging of the neck with highly sensitive techniques.Aim: To review the clinical course of PTMC so to reach its optimal management by adapting therapy and follow-up sche...

Background: Phosphoprotein enriched in diabetes (PED) is a scaffold protein widely produced in different tissues; it is involved in multiple cellular functions, including insulin-regulated glucose transport. Previous findings showed that in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) the PED gene is overexpressed in skeletal muscle (SM) and adipose tissue (AT), both target tissues for insulin activity. Our group has recently evidenced that PED protein is also expressed in periphera...