Endocrine Abstracts

BackgroundWe provided the first description of thyrotoxicosis due to atypical thyroiditis in patients hospitalised for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic disease (Covid-19), not associated with neck pain, more common in men, correlated with disease severity and coexisting with non-thyroidal illness syndrome. Classic viral subacute thyroiditis is often followed by permanent thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity, thus we h...

The aim of this study was to evaluate in a long follow-up time patients with acromegaly successfully treated by transphenoidal surgery (TNS) in order to establish the recurrence rate and the need of subsequent follow up.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of 283 acromegalic patients (168 females, mean age: 44.2 ±12.9 years) who underwent TNS for a GH secreting pituitary adenoma between 1980 and 2020, on regular follow-up at two Pituitary Units...

Somatic mutations in the ubiquitin specific peptidase 8 (USP8) gene have been associated with higher levels of somatostatin (SS) receptor subtype 5 (SSTR5) in adrenocorticotroph hormone (ACTH)-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs). However, a correlation between the USP8 mutational status and favorable responses to pasireotide, the somatostatin multi-receptor ligand acting especially on SSTR5, has not been investigated yet. Here, we studied the impact of USP8 mut...

The mTOR inhibitor everolimus has been shown to display antimitotic effects on diverse neoplasms, including pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs); however, its effect is reduced by an escape mechanism that increases AKT phosphorylation (P-AKT) leading to survival pathway activation. Dopamine receptor type 2 (DRD2) reduces p-AKT in some non-functioning PitNETs (NF-PitNETs) and in lactotrophs MMQ cells, through a α-arrestin 2-dependent mechanism. This study aim...

During the spring of 2020, a national lockdown was adopted in Italy to prevent COVID-19 pandemic spread. Restrictive measures have been associated with impaired psychological outcome in the general population. As patients with Cushing’s Syndrome (CS), including Cushing’s disease (CD), adrenal CS (ACS), and ectopic CS (ECS), are reportedly associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety, stress susceptibility, depression, and maniac episodes, during both active disease...

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) represent a heterogeneous group of malignancies with increasing incidence worldwide, due in part to enhanced awareness and diagnosis improvements. Surgery is often effective for local disease, whereas disseminated or metastatic disease require pharmacological treatment, which is not always successful. Pancreatic (Pan-NETs) and pulmonary (Lung-NETs) neuroendocrine tumors frequently express somatostatin receptors (SSTs), providing the target for trea...

State of the art: In pharmacology, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is considered equivalent to luteinising hormone (LH) since both act on the same receptor. Thus, when testicular function needs to be clinically restored (i.e. in case of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism [HH]), hCG is used instead of LH. However, growing evidences showed LH and hCG activate different molecular pathways and offer different outcomes in women undergoing assisted reproduction. The different action b...

The main target of pharmacological therapy for growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary tumors (GH-PitNET) is the somatostatin receptor type 2 (SST2). However, approximately half of patients treated with octreotide, an SST2 agonist, show a low response rate or are octreotide-resistant. Here we present mechanistic data that shows co-treatment with simufilam, a novel oral therapeutic candidate, enhances sensitivity to octreotide. We previously showed that the cytoskeleton protein...

The cytoskeletal actin-binding protein filamin A (FLNA) is poorly expressed in adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) compared to adenomas (ACA), and this might contribute to sustain the increased cell proliferation by downregulating IGF1R expression and its downstream signaling. In mouse neural progenitor cells, increased protein expression levels of the CDK1 kinase Wee1 have been found after loss of FLNA. This protein has a leading role in regulating the G2-M checkpoint and functio...

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) are rare endocrine tumors that originate in the cortex of the adrenal gland. They are characterized by the overexpression of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), whose bond with two tyrosine-kinase receptors, IGF1R and IR, activates a cancer-promoting signalling cascade. Another component of the IGF system is mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R), a scavenger receptor able to bind specifically IGF2. Its main role is t...