Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The developmental stages of the ovarian follicle are characterized by changes of gonadotropin and steroid hormone receptor expression and their potential interactions on the surface of granulosa cells. In this study in vitro, we aim to evaluate whether the co-existing follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) form heteromers, which may play role in selecting the dominant ovarian follicle.<p class="abs...

Pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH) and placental human choriogonadotropin (hCG) are two heterodimeric glycoprotein hormones regulating reproduction. They bind the same receptor (LHCGR) expressed in gonadal cells, activating hormone-specific G protein- and β-arrestins-dependent signaling cascades, before LHCGR internalization. LH induces preferential proliferative signals, while hCG activates mainly the steroidogenic pathway, reflecting their physiological roles. In this s...

Background: Environmental rhythmicity seems able to affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in animals to achieve reproductive advantages. However, conflicting results were obtained when assessing the environmental-dependent rhythmicity on reproductive hormone secretion in humans.Aim of the study: This study was designed to evaluate seasonal fluctuations of the main hormones involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in men, using a big d...

Introduction: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is a heterogenous disease caused by mutations in several genes. Based on the presence of hyposmia/anosmia it is distinguished into Kallmann syndrome and isolated HH. The prevalence of other developmental anomalies is not well established.Methods: We studied patients with HH (29 males, 3 females, mean age 41.5), 9 with familial and 23 sporadic HH (29 congenital, 3 adult-onset), by physical examination, smel...

Introduction: Aromatase cytochrome P450 is uniquely responsible for estrogen synthesis in vertebrates. The protein is expressed in the gonads and other extraglandular tissues. Deregulated expression of aromatase has pathological relevance and targeting the CYP19A1 product could be an effective strategy for treatment of affected tissues. Nevertheless, very little is known concerning the role of protein oligomerisation, glycosylation and degradation. Here we studied the aromatas...

Introduction: Thyroid FNAB is the gold standard to discriminate malignant from benign thyroid nodules. However, inadequate cytology ranges from 1 to 20% (up to 33.6%) in different settings and could depend on several factors, including the operator’s skills.Aim: To evaluate the effect of operator’s experience on US-FNAB diagnostic adequacy we reviewed 7029 US-FNABs performed from January 2006 to March 2009.Materials and M...

Introduction: We assessed the incidence of ultrasound (US) thyroid scan anomalies in adult volunteers in the district of ModenaMethods: From December 2010 to October 2011 we performed US thyroid scan (Siemens Acuson Antares, 10 Mega Hertz-Linear scanner- B mode) in a cohort of 201 volunteers, recruited by local advertisement, women (n=135) and men (n=66), mean age 46±10.7. All participants were unaware of any thyroid disease and at the...

Objective: Aromatase, the key enzyme involved in estrogen synthesis, is expressed in a variety of cells, including peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs), and tissues. The systematic study of aromatase expression and activity in different tissues in the human and other primates, however, is difficult and still missing. Although is not really known, aromatase expression in PBLs could be used as parameter of aromatase expression/activity making PBLs a potential alternative for other...

Objective: Aromatase, the key enzyme involved in estrogen synthesis, is expressed in a variety of cells and tissues including human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs). The present study was designed to evaluate PBL aromatase gene expression in male and female elderly subjects compared to young male controls.Design: CYP19A1 mRNA and protein were measured in PBLs obtained from young men (n=13) aged < 35 years, postmenopausal women (n</...

Introduction: Several numerical chromosome abberations are known in men. Of those the karyotype XXY (Klinefelter syndrome KS) is the most common chromosomal disorder with a prevalence of about one in 500 live-born males. KS is associated with hypogonadism and is suspected to cause variable physical and cognitive abnormalities. As a supernumerary X chromosome is also associated with infertility, sound animal models for KS are difficult to obtain.Methods: ...