Endocrine Abstracts

For a long time it has been suggested that glucocorticoids (GC) mediate their effects solely on the genomic level. A number of studies reported an existence of rapid GC effects independent on gene expression. These effects may play an important role in stress response or during acute GC therapy. As far as we know, rapid inhibitory GC effects on glucose-induced secretion of insulin have been reported only in animals (1). The aim of our study was to evaluate effects of GC on ear...

We examined the response of rat female pituitary at different metabolic stages to treatments with estrogenic compounds and vitamin D analogs. Immature or ovariectomized (Ovx) female rats, responded by increased creatine kinase specific activity (CK) to estradiol-17β (E2), genistein (G), daidzein (D), biochainin A (BA), quecertin (Qu), carboxy- G (cG), carboxy- BA (cBA) and raloxifene (Ral). The response was inhibited when Ral was injected together with the estr...

Objective: Studies in rodents indicate a role of vitamin D in male reproduction but the relationship between vitamin D and androgen levels in men is largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels with testosterone, FAI (free androgen index), and SHBG. Moreover, we examined whether androgen levels show a similar seasonal variation to 25(OH)D.Design: In this cross-sectional study, 25(OH)D, testosterone, ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients could have altered endocrine function as different endocrine organs (gonads, pituitary, thyroid and pancreas) can be affected depending on the phenotype of the disease and the degree of systemic inflammation. Anabolic hormones can be involved as COPD patients can show weight loss and muscle wasting and both these conditions can modify natural history of the disease. Moreover COPD patients can frequently have acute exacerbat...

Context: Previous studies suggest that total testosterone levels influences lipid metabolism. It has not been investigated whether these levels are prospectively associated with an unfavourable lipid profile including increased risk of incident dyslipidemia.Design and setting: We used data of 1468 men aged 20–79 years, repeatedly examined in the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania. Serum total testosterone levels, measured by chemiluminesc...

Introduction: Aortic elastic properties and aortic stiffness are important determinants of increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in different diseases. We aimed to investigate the aortic function and to evaluate the relationship between aortic stiffness and systolic and diastolic functions of the left ventricle in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD).Material and method: Fourteen women and one man with newly diagnosed CD, and 17 control c...

Introduction: Obese men and women still show their sex-specific fat accumulation. Not only does fat distribution differ between the sexes after puberty, but the dynamics of fat cell size and fat metabolism differ as well. While there is reliable evidence that pubertal sex steroids induce a sex-specific fat distribution with preferential abdominal/visceral fat accumulation in males and preferential gluteofemoral fat accumulation in females, later in life a number of paradoxes o...

Aldosterone stimulates the rapid phosphorylation and activation of PKD1 in a murine renal cortical collecting duct cell line (M1-CCD), through the transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). PKD1 belongs to a family of serine/threonine kinases known to be important modulators of subcellular trafficking. The epithelial sodium channel ENaC is a major effector of aldosterone action in the kidney and plays a crucial role in the maintenance of whole body sodium ...

Context: Glucocorticoids are known to decrease protein synthesis and impair membrane excitability of muscle fibres. However, their short-term effects on muscle structure and function of healthy subjects remain poorly understood.Objective: To investigate whether steroid administration could decrease the circulating levels of muscle proteins and modify myoelectric indexes of sarcolemmal excitability and fatigability.Design: Single-bl...

Objective: To investigate the effect of BMI on the absolute change from baseline levels in circulating sex hormone in postmenopausal women treated with oral continuous combined low dose HT for 6 months.Design: The study recruited 36 postmenopausal women who received daily E2 1 mg/NETA 0.5 mg for 6 months. Hormonal assessment included measures of serum concentrations of FSH, LH, 17β-estradiol and free estrogen index (FEI), total and free testosterone...

Introduction: For diagnostic purposes, total-testosterone levels are generally assessed in plasma. However, as the primary site of action of testosterone is in tissue, evaluation of the distribution of testosterone in tissue fluids could give enhanced insight into the (patho)physiological state. Clinical microdialysis allows for sampling at tissue level based on diffusion.Objective: To compare the increase in testosterone levels in tissue and plasma afte...

In male, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) have been associated, beside benign prostatic hyperplasia, to some unexpected co-morbidities, such as hypogonadism, obesity and metabolic syndrome, which are essentially characterized by an unbalance between circulating androgens and estrogens. Within the bladder, LUTS have been linked to overactivity of the RhoA/ROCK pathway. Here we investigate the effects of changing sex steroids on bladder smooth muscle. The effects of androgens...

Objective: To assess the interrelation of the MTHFR ala222val polymorphism, correlated with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, with indices of androgenicity in healthy postmenopausal women.Methods: The population of this cross-sectional study consisted of 84 healthy women who had been menopausal for at least one year. The examined polymorphism was Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase ala222val, while the hormonal assays included Testosterone, Sex ...

It is now recognized that vitamin D influences the innate immune system and recent studies have highlighted the importance of local synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) for these responses. Production of 1,25D from 25-hydroxvitamin D (25D) is catalyzed by 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1; 1α-OHase). Vitamin D is metabolized by 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1; 24-OHase). A key part of the innate immune response is pathogen recognition by the toll-like recep...

The development of a reliable and rapid method to simultaneously measure serum steroids represents a compelling challenge for modern endocrinology. Immunoassays are very sensitive methods, being widely employed in automated routine laboratories, lacking, however, in specificity due to cross-reactivity and matrix interference. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) constitutes the reference method for quantitative analysis of steroids, but time-consuming sample pre-t...

Objective: To explore if the polymorphisms of the estrogen receptor alpha gene, XbaI (IVS1-351 A/G) and PvuII (IVS1-397 T/C) are associated with age-dependent changes in hormone levels for a better understanding of the biological actions of estrogens.Subjects and methods: Subjects, both genders aged between 20 and 80 years were classified into two groups: reproductive age (1) and over 55 years (2). The study received the Ethical Committee approval. Morni...

Objective: Aromatase, the key enzyme involved in estrogen synthesis, is expressed in a variety of cells, including peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs), and tissues. The systematic study of aromatase expression and activity in different tissues in the human and other primates, however, is difficult and still missing. Although is not really known, aromatase expression in PBLs could be used as parameter of aromatase expression/activity making PBLs a potential alternative for other...

Introduction: 7-hydroxyl DHEA derivatives are labelled as natural anti-glucocorticoid and neuroprotective substances. Their impact on the production of cytokines, their activation of apoptosis, influence on the migration of macrophages to peripheral tissue, their possible effect on angiogenesis, effect on inflammatory mediators (arachidonic acid metabolites) and their role in the mechanism of oxidative stress have been described.Methods: In our study we ...

Sex steroid concentrations have a strong genetic determination, but environmental factors and body composition play an important role. Intrauterine growth restriction, evidenced by low birth weight has been associated with altered gonadotropin metabolism. If this relationship is also present across the wide range of birth weight is unkown. Serum sex steroid concentrations were investigated in healthy young brothers in relation to birth weight, body composition and parental ste...