Endocrine Abstracts

Thyroid hormone (TH) is long known for its profound effects on metabolism. Novel studies have revealed that these effects are not restricted to the cellular and organ level, and that TH also affects metabolism by altering the autonomic nervous system via TH receptor α1. Mice expressing a mutant R384C TH receptor α1 display a central sympathetic hyperactivation of their brown adipose tissue, which causes severe hypermetabolism and resistance to high-fat diet-induced o...

Osteoporosis is caused by a failure of bone homeostasis. The precise molecular mechanism controlling bone homeostasis is largely unknown. Increasing evidences that neurons and neurotransmitters are intimately involved in bone remodeling shed light on a novel regulatory mechanism for bone homeostasis. Namely, like all other homeostatic functions, bone remodeling is under the control of hypothalamus. We have uncovered that leptin, an adipocyte-derived anorexigenic hormone, regul...

Purpose: To reveal changes of the vegetative status, namely vegetative maintenance, vegetative reactance, and infringement of emotional status at patients with postoperative primary hypothyroidism (concerning central or total craws), the compensated treatment by levothyroxyn.Materials and methods: Sixteen persons are included in research with primary hypothyroidism with various etiology, compensated by levothyroxyn. The ages – 36–58 years, dura...

Thyroid hormones are known to be important for optimal development of the human central nervous system. Classically, maternal thyroid hormones have not been thought to play a major role in defining central nervous system development. However, recent epidemiological evidence has indicated that subtle deficiencies in circulating maternal thyroid hormones in the first trimester of pregnancy are associated with adverse neurodevelopment.We have used real-tim...

Obesity pandemic has a tremendous impact on economic and healthcare systems. Our group investigates molecular mechanisms involved in obesity and its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We are particularly interested in studying the actions and mechanisms by which the central nervous system, and more precisely the hypothalamus, controls energy homeostasis. We have provided evidence that different gastrointestinal hormones such as G...

The ever-growing obesity epidemic puts an enormous burden on our societies. The need for the development of novel therapeutic interventions necessitates the exact understanding of the underlying regulatory principles in energy homeostasis. Over the last 10 years, the hormonal and nutritional factors communicating the energy state of the body to the central nervous system to adapt caloric intake and energy expenditure have rapidly extended our understanding on the mechanisms co...

A Maggi, Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, Milan, Italy Abstract Professor Adriana Maggi’s career has been devoted to the study of the activities of estrogens, initially in the central nervous system and, more recently, in other non-reproductive organs with the aim to understand the physiological importance of this hormone beyond the control of reproductiv...

Objective: It has been argued that salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) is a potential indirect sympathoadrenal medullary (SAM) system activity marker. This study aimed to look at sAA to assess the sympathetic nervous system in acromegaly patients.Subjects and Methods: A total of 31 individuals with acromegaly and 30 controls were enrolled in this prospective, single-center investigation. Saliva samples were taken from individuals with acromegaly and controls in...

Introduction: Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is an orexigenic neuropeptide which is located in the lateral hypothalamus and regulate the energy balance. MCH deficient mice are hypophagic, lean and do not develop hepatosteatosis when fed on high fat diet. The MCH increases food intake and adiposity, so we sought to investigate the role of the MCH on adipocyte and hepatic metabolism.Methods: MCH were chronically administered into the lateral ventricle...

LHX3 is a LIM homeodomain transcription factor necessary for proper development of the pituitary and central nervous system. Patients with mutations in coding regions of the LHX3 gene have complex syndromes including combined pituitary hormone deficiency and nervous system defects resulting in symptoms such as dwarfism, thyroid insufficiency, infertility, and developmental delay. Although previous studies from our group and others have identified promoter and intronic elements...