Endocrine Abstracts

Purpose: Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-I) are currently the principal biomarkers used to assess disease activity in acromegaly and any discrepancy between them renders interpretation of results inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of discrepant results and identify parameters that might affect the emergence of this phenomenon.Methods: A systematic review of Medline and Scopus was performed (1987&...

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to cerebro-cardiovascular, thrombotic or infectious complications. However, there is significant variation in the clinical presentation and consequences of hypercortisolism, resulting in a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from mild to severe or even life-threatening disease requiring immediate treatment.Aim: The description of patients with severe CD in c...

Introduction: Critical illness, and sepsis in particular, drives adipose tissue lipolysis up (with triglycerides (TG) being split to free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol (GLYC)) to meet increased energy demands. Few studies have addressed lipolysis with tissue microdialysis (MD).Aim: To assess indexes of lipolysis in septic patients with and without shock.Subjects and methods: The study included 110 men and 73 women (mean age+<small...

Background: Increased prevalence of abnormal aminotransferase levels and/or ultrasonographic evidence of hepatic steatosis have been found in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), being more pronounced in overweight and obese patients. However, few data exist concerning the prevalence of PCOS in premenopausal women with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Objective: To investigate the presence of PCOS in overweight and obese premenopausal wom...

Patients on long term glucocorticoid replacement therapy have higher rates of morbidity and mortality. One causative factor may be non-physiological cortisol replacement. We have developed as part of the ULTRADIAN consortium (https://www.uib.no/en/ultradian) the U-RHYTHM, an ambulatory bio-sampling device that can collect clinical samples using in-vivo microdialysis every 20 minutes over the 24hour day whilst individuals continue with their normal everyday activities....

Radioiodine treatment is the cornerstone of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) management. A number of thyroid cancers, however, become radioiodine-refractory (RAIR) and these represent about 60% of advanced DTCs and are responsible for the vast majority of DTC mortality. RAIR DTC has limited therapeutic options, mainly tyrosine kinase inhibitors that are associated with moderate efficacy and considerable toxicity. Reinducing NIS expression (redifferentiation) with the aim of...

Introduction: Somatostatin analogues (SSAs) are the mainstay of treatment for carcinoid syndrome (CS)-related symptoms. Controversy still exists regarding the extent of the efficacy of this intervention. The purpose of the systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the percentage of patients achieving partial (PR) or complete response (CR) with the use of SSAs (lanreotide, octreotide, pasireotide) in patients with CS. Due to lack of uniformity and established criteria...

Purpose: HPA axis activation resulting in increased cortisol production by the adrenals is a crucial part of the response to critical illness. The action of cortisol may also be modulated at the tissue level, through changes in the availability of the free fraction and modifications of the glucocorticoid receptor activity. It has been proposed that tissue resistance to glucocorticoids may occur, at least in some patients, and relate to insufficient anti-inflammatory activity a...

Background: Adrenal masses are discovered in 5% of abdominal imaging scans. Work-up aims at exclusion of malignancy and hormone excess. However, estimates of these risks derive from retrospective studies only, mostly small and with significant selection bias.Methods: Prospective multi-centre study (2011–2016) in 14 centres (11 countries) of the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumours (ENSAT) with prospective consecutive enrolment of patien...

Background: Adrenal masses are discovered in 5% of cross-sectional abdominal imaging scans. Work-up aims at exclusion of malignancy and hormone excess. However, estimates of these risks presently derive from retrospective studies only, mostly small and with significant selection bias.Methods: Prospective multi-centre study (2011–2016) in 21 centres (17 countries) of the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumours (ENSAT) with consecutive enrol...