Endocrine Abstracts

A 38-year-old woman with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism treated with levothyroxine (125 μg/day) was referred to our outpatient clinic with a history of sudden increase of goiter, weakness, dysphagia, dyspnea and suffocating sensation. Physical examination showed an enlarged, stony thyroid gland (three times of normal), without palpable cervical lymph nodes. Biochemical evaluation showed the following abnormalities: TSH 6.0 μU/ml (0.4–4.3), fre...

The ‘canonical’ Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in the development and patterning of bone. Dkk1 (Dickkopf1) and sclerostin are competitive soluble inhibitors of this pathway. Serum sclerostin is decreased in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) compared to the healthy subjects and hypoparathyroid (HypoPT) patients. No data are currently available on Dkk1 serum level in PHPT.We evaluated serum Dkk1 and sclerostin l...

Vitamin D deficiency is widespread among all age and ethnic groups. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is the most reliable marker of vitamin D status. Adequate levels of serum 25(OH)D are necessary to sustain the pleiotropic effects of vitamin D, either skeletal (classical) or extra-skeletal (non-classical). Concentration levels ≧50 nmol/L (20 ng/ml) are required for optimal musculoskeletal health. However, levels above 75 nmol/L (30 ng/ml) may be necessary to maximiz...

Aim of this 2-year, prospective, randomized study is to compare the effect of parathyroidectomy (PTX) vs no treatment in patients with asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), who didn’t meet the 1991 NIH criteria for surgery. The study was approved by our local Ethical Committee. The primary endpoint was the change in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD); secondary endpoints were BMD changes at femur and distal radius, markers of bone turnover, quality ...

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a frequent cause of secondary osteoporosis, but its role about the fracture is still controversial. We evaluated 157 consecutive postmenopausal patients with PHPT compared with two control subjects (C), each one matched for age and month-since-menopause (MSM). We measured ionized calcium (Ca2+), parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25-OH-vitamin D (25-OH vit D), osteocalcin (OC), bone alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP) and serum and urinary cro...

Familial isolated primary hyperparathyroidism (FIPH) can result either from incomplete expression of a syndromic form of familial primary hyperparathyroidism [multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 (MEN 1), hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome (HPT-JT), or familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH)] or still unrecognized causes.We investigated the involvement of MEN1, HRPT2 and CASR genes by direct sequencing of germline DNA in seven...