Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pegvisomant (PEGV) is approved for the treatment of acromegaly since 2003. This is the second interim analysis of data from ACROSTUDY, with the majority of patients treated for at least five years (yrs).Methods/design: ACROSTUDY is an international, open-label, prospective, non-interventional, post-marketing surveillance study monitoring the long-term safety and efficacy of PEGV. Patients were enrolled in the study on an ongoing basis.<...

Introduction: Acromegalic patients (AP) often report fatigue and chronic subjective complaints. We aimed to investigate in more detail these aspects in AP, dependent on disease activity, age, gender, medication and pituitary insufficiency (PI).Patients/methods: Cross sectional, 124 patients (M/W 51/73, age 58.3±14.7 years, 49/75–active/controlled disease). The patients completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) and the Giessen Su...

Background: Many patients with acromegaly report limitations of long-acting somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) injections, including ongoing disease symptoms near cycle-end and injection-site pain. Oral octreotide capsules (OOC) may provide an alternative to monthly injections. The phase 3 CHIASMA OPTIMAL study assessed efficacy and safety of OOC in patients with acromegaly controlled on injectable SRLs.Methods: A multinational, randomized, placebo-contr...

Background: Injectable somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) are currently the most widely used therapy for acromegaly. Oral octreotide capsules (OOC) are a potential therapy for acromegaly; the safety and efficacy were evaluated in the CHIASMA OPTIMAL pivotal study (Samson et al. ENDO 2020). As reported, mean IGF-I levels of the OOC group were maintained within normal range at end of treatment in all patients. However, some patients may not respond to OOC treatment (2...

Chronic exposure to hypercortisolism significantly impacts on patient’s health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We developed a disease-generated questio-nnaire to evaluate HRQoL in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) (CushingQoL); in 125 (104 females) patients recruited in Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy, clinical and hormonal data were collected and correlated with results of the generic SF-36 questionnaire, a question on self-perceived general heal...

Objectives: GH measurements during OGTT have profound effects on therapy and follow-up management of acromegaly. To minimize the discordance between immunoassays, it is recommended to calibrate them using 22 kDa-GH-preparation instead of the use of pituitary-derived calibrants. The aim of our study was to evaluate the between-method discrepancies in GH determinations by assays using different calibrants considering further confounders like age, gender, and BMI.<p class="ab...

Objectives: Besides the measurement of IGF-1, GH suppression during OGTT to assess the biochemical status in acromegaly is recommended. However, as a consequence of the development of highly sensitive and specific GH assays a critical re-evaluation of the criteria for the diagnosis and follow-up management of acromegaly is mandatory. The aim of our study was to evaluate the between-method discrepancies in GH determinations by different immunoassays considering further confound...

Objective: The incidence of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. Glucocorticoid excess causes central obesity and diabetes mellitus as seen in Cushing’s syndrome. The 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enzyme (11beta-HSD1), which is predominantly expressed in liver and adipose tissue, regenerates active cortisol from inactive cortisone. Increased 11beta-HSD1 may cause tissue-specific Cushing syndrome with central obesity and impa...

Objective: The incidence of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. Glucocorticoid excess causes central obesity and diabetes mellitus as seen in Cushing’s syndrome. The 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enzyme (11beta-HSD1), which is predominantly expressed in liver and adipose tissue, regenerates active cortisol from inactive cortisone. Altered 11beta-HSD1 may cause tissue-specific Cushing syndrome with central obesity and impair...

GH consists of various molecular isoforms. Most abundant is 22 kDa-GH (80–90% of total GH), followed by 20 kDa-GH (5–15% of total GH). The biological significance of 20 kDa-GH remains unclear, but its effects appear comparable to those of 22 kDa-GH. Acromegaly is characterized by chronic GH excess. Data on GH isoforms in acromegaly are scarce, but an increased 20 kDa-/22 kDa-GH-ratio (20k-ratio) has been described. Our aims were to compare the 20k-ratio in a larger c...