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This case study describes a 33-year-old man with Addison’s disease who presented with increased plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), normal plasma cortisol, and absent diurnal rhythms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated pituitary hyperplasia. Conventional hydrocortisone replacement therapy may not inhibit high ACTH levels in the morning; however, replacing hydrocortisone with dexamethasone...
Central circuits known to regulate food intake and energy expenditure also affect central cardiovascular regulation. For example, both the melanocortin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) peptide families, known to regulate food intake, also produce central hypertensive effects. Members of both families share a similar C-terminal amino acid residue sequence, RF(Y) amide, a sequence distinct from that required...
Data regarding cardiovascular risk in subjects with non-functioning adrenal adenoma are limited. The objectives of this study are to investigate carotid intima media thickness (IMT) as an indicator of atherosclerosis in subjects with non-functioning adrenal incidentaloma (AI) and to evaluate the factors that could be associated with IMT. Forty-nine subjects without findings of hypercortisolism or...
Microalbuminuria is associated with higher cardiovascular mortality, especially in diabetics. But the direct association between microalbuminuria and vascular wall properties is still not clear. We investigated quantitative carotid stiffness (QCS) index in relation to microalbuminuria in 260 Chinese diabetic patients. In categorical analyses, patients with elevated urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio...
The main objective of this article is to study the psychosocial profile of patients of Cushing disease (CD) in a developing country setting. Eighteen patients with CD underwent a cross-sectional assessment regarding their socio-demographic and clinical profile, life events, social support, coping, dysfunction, quality of life, and psychiatric morbidity. Twenty-two demographically group-matched healthy...
Fibroadenomas are the most common benign breast tumors, occurring mainly in young women. Their responses to the hormonal environment are similar to those of normal breast tissue, which suggests that steroid receptors may play a role in tumor development. We evaluated the gene and protein expression of progesterone receptors A and B (PRA and PRB) and the protein expression of estrogen receptor α (ER-α)...
Pituitary adenomas, which account for 15–20% of intracranial tumors, are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, due in part, to hormone hypersecretion and mass effects following increased proliferation. Radiotherapy and surgery remain frontline treatment options; however, adverse side effects and surgical limitations to treat invasive tumors necessitate the need for novel therapeutic...
Riedel’s thyroiditis (RT) is a rare type of chronic thyroiditis of unproven etiology and definite treatment. It can be associated with retroperitoneal, mediastinal, orbital, and hepatic fibrosis. Symptoms arise mainly due to compression of neighboring structures. Surgery is usually required for a definite diagnosis and decompression to relieve the symptoms. Glucocorticoids and tamoxifen are commonly...
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of macrovascular diseases and related death. Additionally, diabetes mellitus is frequently complicated by other cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, obesity, hypercoagulability, and inflammation. We wanted to evaluate and compare the effects of treating with a one-year course of atorvastatin or simvastatin on inflammatory...
An association exists between adiposity, insulin resistance, and osteoporosis; however, the mechanism of this relationship remains enigmatic. We aimed to determine whether the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), serum adiponectin, or leptin levels are associated with bone mineral density (BMD). A cross-sectional, observational study was designed. Eighty-four postmenopausal ambulant women [52.5 (50...
Type A chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is increased in type 1 diabetic patients (DM1). To address this issue, we determined and analyzed the number of peripheral blood regulatory T cells (Tregs) in 15 DM1-CAG patients, 15 DM1 patients without associated autoantibodies (DM1) and 15 healthy controls by flow cytometry and compared gastric Tregs expression (CD4+Foxp3+/CD4+) in DM1-CAG patients with that...
The production of the peptide hormones ACTH, α-MSH, and β-endorphin requires proteolytic processing of POMC which is hypothesized to utilize dual cysteine- and subtilisin-like protease pathways, consisting of the secretory vesicle cathepsin L pathway and the well-known subtilisin-like prohormone convertase (PC) pathway. To gain knowledge of these protease components in human pituitary where POMC-derived...
A novel treatment approach to Graves’ disease (GD), embolization of the thyroid gland arteries, is evaluated with respect to its indications and adverse effects. We describe an exacerbation of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) following thyroid artery embolization in a woman with GD and mild stable TAO (NOSPECS classification, class I grade a). A 45-year-old woman with GD and inactive TAO, in...
The present study was undertaken to investigate the biological activity of serum albumin when pancreatic β cells were challenged by cytokines and pro-apoptotic reactive oxygen species like H2O2. Culture of mouse islets or INS-1E β cells for 24 h in the presence of H2O2 (25 μmol/l) increased cell death. This demise was prevented by serum albumin, dependent on its free sulfhydryl group, emphasizing...
Anorexia is a problem of paramount importance in patients with advanced liver failure. Ghrelin has important actions on feeding and weight homeostasis. Concentrations of ghrelin are controversial in liver cirrhosis. Our aim was to study fasting ghrelin and their response to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in liver failure patients and normal subjects. Methods We included 16 patients with severe...
The aim of this study was to study the effects of pioglitazone on several diabetic parameters with subjects possessing distinct levels of insulin. Treatment naive patients with type 2 diabetes received 15–30 mg/day pioglitazone monotherapy. At 3 months, levels of insulin, C-peptide, HbA1c, HOMA-R, HOMA-B and BMI were compared with those at baseline between the low (below 5.9 μU/ml, n = 48), medium...
It was recently proposed that, in rat pancreatic islets, the production of bicarbonate accounts for the major fraction of the carbon dioxide generated by the oxidative catabolism of nutrient insulin secretagogues. In search of the mechanism(s) supporting the membrane transport of bicarbonate, the possible role of the electrogenic Na+–HCO3−-cotransporters NBCe1-A and NBCe1-B in rat pancreatic islet...
Background TRB3, a human homolog of Drosophila Tribbles, has been shown as a critical negative regulator of Akt (also known as protein kinase B), which is a key component in insulin signaling. In addition, TRB3 is another PPAR-target gene and functions as an important link between glucose and lipid metabolism. The Q84R polymorphic variant of TRB3 has been linked to insulin resistance and related...
Objective Leydig cells are the principal source of testosterone, and boys with Leydig cell tumors typically have signs of gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty as a result of testosterone secretion by the tumor. A single somatic activating mutation of the LH receptor gene, Asp578His, limited to the tumoral Leydig cells, has been described in a few boys with gonadotropin-independent precocious...
The prevalence of germ line mutations within the RET-protooncogene and the tumor suppressor genes SDHB, SDHD, and VHL in pheochromocytomas (PC) varies in recent studies from 12 to 24%, if one look at them collectively. DNA was extracted from frozen tumor tissue as well as from blood leukocytes of 36 PC (26 sporadic/10 MEN2). Exons 1-8 of the SDHB-gene, 1-4 of the SDHD-gene, 1-3 of the VHL-gene, and...
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