Endocrine Abstracts

In supine subjects aldosterone daily variations are determined by spontaneous PRA rhythmicity and ACTH secretory bursts. The aim of this study was to analyze diurnal and pulsatile aldosterone secretion in two patients with primary aldosteronism (PA): a 33-year-old woman with aldosterone producing adenoma (APA) and a 40-year-old woman with idiopathic adrenal hyperplasia (IAH). Blood samples were taken hourly during 24 hours at the time of the diagnosis and three months later, a...

Adrenal incidentalomas are incidentally discovered adrenal tumors by imaging methods without any prior suspicions of adrenal disease. Most of these tumors are functionally inactive but thorough investigations can reveal discrete hormone excess. Chromogranin A(CgA) is expressed in neuroendocrine cells throughout the body, including large and small intestine, adrenal medulla and pancreatic islets. It is a marker for carcinoid tumors, paragangliomas, and other neuroendocrine tumo...

In this study we wanted to assess whether affective changes influence cortisol response during low dose (1 microgram) ACTH test. Beck Inventory of Depression and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and low dose ACTH test were performed in five subjects during the prolonged psychological stress induced by war and 18 months later. After the war, Beck Inventory of Depression and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale scores were significantly reduced. Suppression of the HPA axis was present dur...

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is characterized by amenorrhea, hypergonadotropism and hypoestrogensm in women under 40 years. Sex steroids play an important role in maintaining bone mass and cessation of ovarian function results in significant bone loss.Objective: To evaluate bone mass density (BMD) and factors influencing it in women with POF.Design & methods: First group of 144 women with spontaneous POF (I), 39.7±7.6 y...

Background: Although it is well known that glucocorticosteroids induce insulin resistance, probably due to postreceptor defects, the exact time scale is still a matter of debate.Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the time scale of effects of therapeutic doses of glucocorticoids on insulin sensitivity.Methods: Study group consisted of 20 patients with Graves ophtalmopathy who were treated with corticosteroids f...

Subclinical hypothyroidism is defined as a biochemical abnormality characterized by an elevated serum level of sTSH with normal thyroid hormones (FT4) and no clinical symptoms. The objective of this study was to asses whether patients with subclinical hypothyroidism have a risk of hypercholesterolemia. We have evaluated 37 adults (34 female and 3 male), mean age 49.20±9.65 years, with laboratory confirmed subclinical hypothyroidism, sTSH value above of 4.5 mU/L and normal...

Adrenal incidentalomas are referred as clinically silent adrenal masses discovered incidentally during diagnostic testing or treatment for conditions not related to suspicion of adrenal disease. Certain percent of them are hormonally active and autonomous cortisol secretion is reported with increasing frequency. The aim of the study was to assess value of 1mg-DST in subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (CS) compared to the other forms of adrenal incidentalomas. We have evaluate...

Aim of this study was to investigate head to head ACTH and cortisol responses to DDAVP and ghrelin in patients with CD. Study was approved by the local ethics committee and informed consent obtained. Nine patients with CD were submitted to ghrelin 1 μg/kg and DDAVP 10 μg bolus iv administration on two separate occasions. Blood was sampled at 0.15, 30, 45, 60, 90 min. for ACTH (ELISA) and cortisol (RIA, Cis, Bio International, France) measurements.<p class="abstex...