Endocrine Abstracts

Background: It is controversial whether the attenuated increase of circulating cortisol to ACTH stimulation predicts treatment response to corticosteroids in patients with critical illness. We investigated whether ACTH testing predicts treatment response to corticosteroids in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods: We performed a low dose (1 μg) ACTH test on admission in a prospective randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled mu...

Introduction: Fluid restriction (FR) is often the recommended first-line treatment for hyponatremia due to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD). However, FR not always leads to successful correction of hyponatremia, making predictive markers of treatment response desirable. The aim of this study was to evaluate routinely measured laboratory parameters, copeptin and pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) as possible predictors of treatment success to FR.<p cl...

Background: Glucocorticoids are frequently prescribed in inflammatory diseases. We investigated the influence of prednisone on classical and novel inflammatory markers in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods: We evaluated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, leukocyte and neutrophil count in a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial which compared prednisone 50 mg for 7 days to placebo in patients ho...

Calcification is a physiological process in bone but occurs also pathologically in the vasculature, favouring cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). Vitamin K metabolites, particularly K1 and MK-4, are associated with decreased vascular calcification especially in patients with chronic kidney disease. We investigated the expression of components of the vitamin K cycle (VKC) and the MK-4 synthesis (MKS) in aorta and bone of 26 brain dead organ donors in order to identify d...

Background: Hyponatremia is common in hospitalized patients and its differential diagnosis and management challenging. An important mechanism is suppressed or adequately or inadequately secreted plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP). Therefore, plasma vasopressin levels may help in the differential diagnosis and in therapy management. Copeptin is secreted in an equimolar ratio to AVP and is more reliable to measure.Methods: In this prospective observational ...

Background: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disturbance in hospitalized patients and associated with a substantial morbidity and mortality. Symptoms of severe hyponatremia vary among patients between nonspecific symptoms such as nausea or malaise or acute life threatening brain oedema. Prospective studies to assess symptoms and mortality in patients with severe hyponatremia are lacking.Methods: In this prospective multicentre observational st...

Introduction: Postoperative diabetes insipidus (DI) remains a common complication after pituitary surgery. AVP measurement might contribute to a straightforward diagnosis, though, its measurement is cumbersome. Copeptin, the stable C-terminal glycopeptide of the AVP prohormone, is a reliable surrogate of AVP.We aimed to elucidate whether copeptin is a helpful marker in the diagnostic approach of postoperative DI.Methods/design: Pro...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome is associated with significant chronic and acute complications including acute thromboembolic and cardiovascular events. We aimed to study the prevalence and predictors of acute and perioperative complications in patients with active Cushing’s syndrome.Methods: The prevalence, predictors and outcomes of acute, life-threatening and perioperative complications were evaluated in a cohort of patients with active b...

Objectives: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with incompletely understood pathogenesis and poor prognosis. Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been demonstrated in several tumors and is partly associated with a more aggressive phenotype and a worse prognosis. In addition, targeting the EGFR tyrosine kinase represents a successful new therapeutic strategy, e.g. in non-small cell lung cancer. Therefore, we investigated the role of EGF...

# These authors contributed equallyIntroduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and aggressive endocrine malignancy with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. In addition, ACC is characterized by endogenous glucocorticoid (GC) excess in 60% of cases which is hypothesized to be one reason, why first clinical trials evaluating the potency of immune checkpoint blockade showed only modest results. Here, we report the identificati...