Endocrine Abstracts

Little is known about the negative regulation of angiogenesis in the ovary. Recent evidence has revealed that estradiol 17β and its metabolites may play an important role in this fine tuning1. In a previous work2, we set up an assay to quantify 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE) and 4-hydroxyestradiol (4-OHE) in follicular fuids. In order to get an insight on the angiogenic effect of 4-OHE and 2-OHE, the objective of this research was to study their possible...

Angiogenesis has been shown to be fundamental for follicle development; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), the major pro-angiogenetic factor, plays a critical role in the control of the follicular growth. Akt signalling is involved in VEGF transduction (Zachary, 2003) thus regulating multiple steps in angiogenesis. Sanguinarine (SA), an alkaloid isolated from Sanguinaria Canadensis, is known for its antiangiogenetic effects by suppressing basal and VEGF-induced ...

Angiogenesis, the process by which new blood vessels are formed from preexisting vasculature, is an essential feature of female reproductive cycles. Since angiogenesis involves migration and invasion of endothelial cells into surrounding tissues, proteases such as the Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of soluble proteolytic enzymes, are critically important in this process (Rundhaug, 2005); moreover, they play a key role in extracellular matrix remodelling, a process ...

Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is an inflammation of the thyroid gland characterized by varying degrees of severity regarding thyrotoxicosis, inflammation and the incidence of hypothyroidism. The present study aims to identify whether the severity of SAT depends on the causative agent involved and to identify what is the optimal therapy. To this purpose we retrospectively evaluated 402 patients referred to of the University Hospital of Pisa because of to a SAT from January 2011 to...

Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipoatrophy type 1 (BSCL1) is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the AGPAT2 gene. This syndrome is characterized by near total absence of adipose tissue since birth, associated with the progressive development of metabolic complications. The AGPAT2 gene encodes for 1-acylglycerol-3phosphate-O-acyltransferase highly expressed in white adipocytes that catalyzes the acylation of lysophosphatidic acid to form phosphatidic acid, a...

Background: One of the major limits of gene therapy with sodium iodide symporter (NIS), which enables cells to be subjected to radioiodine therapy, is that NIS transfected cells rapidly release the intracellular iodine.Materials and methods: We transfected two human anaplastic (FRO) and medullary (TT) thyroid cancer derived cell lines, unable to take up iodine, with human NIS cDNA. The possibility of increasing the iodine retention time by treating cells...

BackgroundSubacute thyroiditis (SAT) has been related to acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We evaluated the incidence and the severity of SAT due to SARS-CoV-2.MethodsA cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted at the Endocrinology Unit of University-Hospital of Pisa, Italy. All patients experiencing SAT arisen within a period of 15 days earlier and yet untreated, assessed from J...

Introduction: The association between thyroid cancer and thyrotoxicosis is rare and, in particular, autonomous hyperfunctioning metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) are seldom described, with a prevalence of 0.71%. Althought most hyperfunctioning metastasis are derived from follicular thyroid cancer (FTC), metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) have been also reported. Bone metastasis account for the majority of cases. Hyperfunctioning TC metastasis have be...

Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) is the recommended diagnostic tool for differentiating malignant from benign thyroid nodules and provides indication for surgical decisions. According to the Italian system, thyroid nodules are classified as TIR 1/1C, TIR 2, TIR 3A, TIR3B, TIR4 or TIR5, which correspond to Thy I, Thy II, Thy III, Thy IV, Thy V and Thy VI categories of the Bethesda system. TIR 3 identifies the indeterminate nodules. Surgery is usually recommended for TIR 3B,...

Introduction: Acquired generalized lipodystrophies (AGL) are rare syndromes characterized by complete loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue and very low serum leptin levels. AGL are complicated by severe insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and fatty liver. In most patients evidence exists of an autoimmune etiology.Case report: We herein describe the case of a Caucasian woman who was diagnosed with lipodistrophy at 5 years of age, when she b...