Endocrine Abstracts

Background: In the general population, sleep disorders are associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment; moreover, people with dementia often have sleep disturbances. The prevalence of sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, in acromegalic patients is higher than in the general population, and they may have a higher risk of cognitive impairment due to acromegaly treatment (i.e. Radiotherapy) or cardiovascular comorbidities. In the literature, data about the relation...

Background: Pasireotide LAR is a multireceptor targeted somatostatin analogue that has been shown to obtain a better biochemical control of acromegaly. However, pasireotide LAR could induce hyperglycemia in acromegalic patients with higher baseline glucose values. The devices that can track interstitial glucose levels such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) could be a useful for studying the impact of SSA on patients’ glucose status.Aim: We aime...

Background: Pegvisomant (PEG) is a second line medical treatment for active acromegalic patients. PEG efficacy is between 61.5 and 92% and even if it is administered daily its long half-life suggests a possible use with a non-daily regime.Aim: We aim to compare acromegalic patients on daily PEG administration (DP) with patients on non-daily PEG administration (NDP).Methods: We studied 43 acromegalic patients under PEG treatment bet...

Introduction: Acromegalic cardiomyopathy is characterized by myocardial hypertrophy and interstitial myocardial fibrosis at biopsy. We studied left ventricular hypertrophy -LVH- through echocardiography (-ECHO- 2-D standard echocardiography and Doppler analysis) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) analysis. Myocardial fibrosis was studied with late enhancement technique (LE) and extracellular volume technique (ECV) at CMR.Methods: 25 patients -pts- (13 ...

Pituitary transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) is a mammalian securing involved in mitosis to ensure chromosomal stability. PTTG1 is overexpressed in a variety of tumors. It can directly and indirectly induce expression of genes that are involved in regulating tumorigenesis and cancer development (c-Myc, bFGF, VEGF and MMP2).We evaluated PTTG1-expression by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimen testicular tissues from 53 male patie...

Ghrelin (Ghr) is an orexigenic peptide investigated by Lutter and col. 2008 for its potential role in the development of depressive symptoms induced by chronic stress, suggesting that Ghr defends against depressive-like symptoms. Rodent bilateral olfactory bulbectomy (OB) is an animal model that appears to fulfill many of the criteria required for the study of depression; hence, Ghr could be an alternative therapeutic tool for depression therapy. We study the possibility that ...

Background: The role of ferroptosis – a regulated form of cell death – in the pathophysiology of aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA) is unclear.Objective: To identify mechanisms of ferroptosis in human adrenal cells and translate these findings to APA pathophysiology.Methods: Cell death detection, lipid ROS generation and mRNA sequencing were performed on HAC15 cells treated with the specific ferroptosis inducer RSL3 (1,...

Objective: Aldosterone-producing adenomas (APA) are a major cause of primary aldosteronism. Somatic mutations explain the excess aldosterone production in the majority of patients with APA with mutations in KCNJ5 encoding a potassium channel the most prevalent in most reported populations. Mechanisms driving cell proliferation are largely undefined.Design and method: Quantitative transcriptome analysis using RNA-seq was used to identify differen...

A 69-year-old woman developed hypertension, polyuria and hyperglycemia over the course of several months. The initial biochemical investigation revealed ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism (UFC 409.7 μg/24 h, NR 10–80; ACTH 43.3 pg/ml, NR 8–50; OST 28 μg/dl) and moderately elevated urinary catecholamines (E 80.5 μg/24 h, NR 2.5–33.6; norE 235.8 μg/24 h, NR 18.1–128.2). Further investigations disclosed absent ACTH and cortisol responses to CR...

Glucocorticoids are known to exert a stimulatory action on white blood cell precursor proliferation but little is known on erythrocyte counts in patients with Cushing’s syndrome.Aim: Of the present study was to assess red and white blood cell parametres in a large series of patients with Cushing’s syndrome and follow the blood cell changes after postsurgical remission or persistence of hypercortisolism.Methods: Of 84 pati...