Endocrine Abstracts

The Nelson’s syndrome (NS) is characterized by hyperpigmentation, sellar growing mass, and increased plasma ACTH concentrations The management of NS remains difficult: neurosurgery represent the first choice therapy. Many drugs have been used with variable results: cyproeptadine, GABA-agonists, somatostatin analogues, chemiotherapy, PPAR-γ-agonists, and dopamin-agonists.Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cabergoline administratio...

Serum pituitary antibodies (Pit Abs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been described in a small percentage of pituitary adenomas but their clinical significance remains unknown.Aim of the study was to assess Pit Abs and TILs prevalence in patients with pituitary adenomas and to determine their influence on the clinical outcome. In this prevalence case–control study were enrolled 291 pituitary adenoma cases, (110 non-secreting, 30 ACTH-...

Introduction: Type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is a form of destructive thyroiditis, commonly responsive to glucocorticoids. On the contrary, type 1 AIT is an iodine-induced hyperthyroidism, occurring in patients with underlying thyroid disease often responding to thionamides.Aim of the study: To compare the effectiveness of methimazole (MMI) or prednisone (GLU) in the treatment of AIT patients with multinodular goiter with biochemical feat...

Hypogonadism is still a poorly-defined clinical entity. Recently approved and published guidelines to diagnosis and treatment of hypogonadism claim the necessity of accompanying biochemical thresholds with clinical symptoms and monitoring under treatment a specific aspect of the ‘wide spectrum’ hypogonadism (libido, erection, bone mass, muscle strength and so on). This is due both to different levels of thresholds for different tissues and to individual variability.<...

Amiodarone induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) may develop in patients with either underlying thyroid disorders (type 1) or normal gland (type 2). The latter is considered a drug-induced destructive thyroditis, usually responding to glucocorticoids. Further treatments after restoring euthyroidism are often not necessary. The former is a true form of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism the management of which includes thionamides, potassium perchlorate and thyrodectomy. The prevalence of t...

Pituitary GH secretion is regulated by the interplay of at least two hypothalamic hormones, GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, through their interaction with specific cell surface receptors on the anterior pituitary somatotrophs. A third type of receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, called GHS receptor type 1a (GHSR1a), was identified in the pituitary and the hypothalamus. Ghrelin is an acylated peptide produced predominantly by stomach and a natural l...

Exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene contains a variable number of CAG triplets, (CAGr)n which encode a polyglutamine stretch of variable length in the N-terminal domain of the receptor. Experimental evidence has accumulated in demonstrating that the length of this stretch influences the transcriptional activity induced by the AR and therefore modulates target organs responsiveness to androgens.The (CAGr)n is inversely associated with the transcript...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common motor neurone disorder in human adults. Scanty data on endocrine abnormalities have been reported. Aim of the present study was to investigate the GH-IGF-I axis in ALS patients.22 ALS patients (12 men and 10 women), aged 46–77 years, performed GHRH+arginine test: blood samples for GH were collected at baseline, 30 and 60 minutes; IGF-I was determined at baseline. The control group consisted of 2...

Introduction and aim: A prompt diagnosis of Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) in high-risk populations is mandatory: 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test (1-mg DST); late night salivary cortisol (LNSC) and urinary free cortisol (UFC) are recommend, despite thresholds calculated in retrospective studies. Our aim was to study the diagnostic accuracy of LNSC measured with chemiluminescence assay in a prospective study, confirming discrepancies with mass spectrometry (MS).<p class="...

Background: ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas represent two-thirds of Cushing’s syndrome (CS), the so-called Cushing’s disease (CD). These tumors are sometimes >10 mm in maximal diameter (macro-CD), but the majority of them are <10 mm (micro-CD). The aim of this study was to compare baseline characteristics of patients with micro-CD and macro-CD.Materials and methods: Clinical, hormonal and radiological data of 226 patients with CD were...