Endocrine Abstracts

GH and IGF-I exert an important role in the control of bone formation. Osteopenia and osteoporosis are a frequent recurrence in patients with thalassemia. Due to the high prevalence of GH deficiency (GHD) in adult thalassemic patients (Scacchi et al., Clin Endocrinol 2007), we investigated the possible role of GH - IGF-I abnormalities in the pathogenesis of the osteopenia/osteoporosis of this disease.Study: Sixty-four adult thalassemic pati...

In a small but not negligible proportion of thalassemic patients, a true growth hormone deficiency (GHD), not secondary to pubertal delay, can be documented. Among the features of adult GHD syndrome, osteoporosis leads to a 2.5-fold increase in fracture risk. Thalassemia is characterized by a peculiar bone disease leading to osteopenia. The effectiveness of GH treatment in GHD adult thalassemic patients has not been explored yet. We report here the case of such a patient, disp...

Introduction: The ghrelin suppressive effect of food is well established in normal subjects, whereas the effectiveness of meals in decreasing plasma ghrelin in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) is still debated. Based on the above, we elected to study the ghrelin dynamics after food or placebo in a group of anorectic girls at the moment of diagnosis and after weight recuperation.Study design: Nine anorectic women (age 14–32 years) were studied. Bo...

Priming with sex steroids prior to stimulation tests for the diagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) in peripubertal years remains controversial, though some evidence suggests its utility in improving the specificity of GH testing for the distinction between idiopathic GHD (IGHD) and constitutional delay of growth and puberty (CDGP). However, few data are available on the final height (FH) of untreated CDGP patients. In order to better understand the usefulness of priming, we analyze...

Biochemical control of acromegaly is currently defined by the achievement of GH suppression after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and of normal age- and gender-matched IGF1 levels. OGTT is believed to inhibit somatotropin secretion by enhancing central somatostatinergic tone; thus, the use of this test in evaluating biochemical control in acromegalic patients on somatostatin analogues (SSA) is questionable. To gain further insights into this topic, we analyzed basal and nad...

Eating disorders are less common in men than in women. Furthermore, in males, a restrictive eating behaviour is frequently secondary to other psychiatric disorders. In case of suspected primary anorexia nervosa (AN), in male patients it is obviously impossible to rely on a typical clinical sign as is amenorrhea.Case description: A 23-yr old man came to our observation because of an important weight loss in the last two years (from 60 to 48 kg, body mass ...

Binge-eating disorder (BED) is characterized by recurrent (≥1 per week for 3 months), brief (≤2 h), psychologically distressing binge-eating episodes during which patients sense a lack of control and consume larger amounts of food than most people would under similar circumstances. The prevalence of BED is estimated to be between 2% and 3.5% and majority of individuals with BED are either overweight or obese. Most of the genetic research about eating disorders (ED)...

The diagnostic approach to GH deficiency (GHD) in obese patients is complicated by the reduced spontaneous and stimulated GH secretion associated with overweight. A GH response to GHRH+arginine lower than 4.2 μg/l is currently considered indicative of GHD in obesity (Corneli et al., Eur J Endocrinol 2005). Aim of the study was to verify the diagnostic validity of this cut-off value by investigating the effect of acute pharmacological blockade of lipolysis on...

In thalassemic patients individual values of BMD measured by traditional DEXA are lower than those determined by QCT. The reason for this discrepancy is still controversial.Aim: To investigate bone features in a large group of thalassemic patients, compared with patients with anorexia nervosa, also characterized by precocious osteoporosis.Study design: Forty-six adult thalassemic subjects and 25 anorectic women were studied. In all...

Irisin is a myokine involved in the browning of white adipose tissue and in the regulation of energy expenditure, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. It was previously demonstrated that obese adults with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) harbor lower irisin levels than individuals with common obesity. Significant associations seem to relate irisin to muscle mass, REE, insulin resistance and triglycerides and also the strongest independent predictors of irisin levels were PWS ...