Early onset adiposity: A pathway to polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents?

Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis, Charikleia D. Christakou, Eleni Kandaraki, Krystallenia I. Alexandraki

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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a heterogenous syndrome of unknown causation commonly associated with obesity. Τhe particular timing of the onset of obesity may be important, since the earlier the onset of obesity the greater the severity of the metabolic and hormonal aberrations …

Growth velocity and final height in elite female rhythmic and artistic gymnasts

Neoklis A. Georgopoulos, Anastasia Theodoropoulou, Nikolaos D. Roupas, Loredana Rottstein, Athanasios Tsekouras, Panagiotis Mylonas, George A. Vagenakis, Eftychia Koukkou, Anastasia K. Armeni, George Sakellaropoulos, Michel Leglise, Apostolos G. Vagenakis, Kostas B. Markou

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PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of intensive training on adult final height in elite female rhythmic and artistic gymnasts. METHODS: The study included 215 rhythmic gymnasts (RG) and 113 artistic gymnasts (AG) …

Growth hormone treatment in human ageing: benefits and risks

Roberta Giordano, Lorenza Bonelli, Elisa Marinazzo, Ezio Ghigo, Emanuela Arvat

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This paper will focus on the rationale of using Growth Hormone (GH) as an anti-ageing therapy in the healthy elderly with age-related decline in the activity of the GH/IGF-I axis, the so called “somatopause”. Although the age-related decline in the activity of the GH/IGF-I axis is considered to contribute to age-related changes …

Increased leptin levels in preeclampsia: associations with BMI, estrogen and SHBG levels

Acromite Michael, Ziotopoulou Mary, Orlova Christine, Mantzoros Christos

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Leptin is secreted mainly by the white adipose tissue but is also synthesized in several non-adipose tissue organs including the placenta. Serum leptin levels are increased in normal pregnancies and are higher in preeclamptic than normal pregnant women. There is, however, a lack of empirical evidence of an independent association of serum leptin levels and preeclamsia …

Smoking is a significant determinant of low serum vitamin D in young and middle-aged healthy males

Eva N. Kassi, Spiros Stavropoulos, Panayiotis Kokkoris, Antonis Galanos, Paraskevi Moutsatsou, Cleanthi Dimas, Athanasios Papatheodorou, Christos Zafeiris, George Lyritis

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OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the prevalence of 25(OH)D (D2 and D3 independently) inadequacy in healthy young/middle-aged men and to investigate its relationship with BMD, bone markers, demographic and lifestyle parameters such as age, BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption and dietary calcium intake …

The measurement of urinary gonadotropins for assessment and management of pubertal disorder

Laura Lucaccioni, Jane McNeilly, Avril Mason, Claudio Giacomozzi, Andreas Kyriakou, Mohammed Guftar Shaikh, Lorenzo Iughetti, Syed Faisal Ahmed

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OBJECTIVE: Measurement of urinary LH (uLH) and FSH (uFSH) may facilitate non-invasive pubertal assessment but there is a need for further validation by studying children and adolescents with disorders of puberty. DESIGN: 65 cases (Male: 25) with a median age of 12 years (2.9-18.1) supplied at least one non-timed urine sample

Applications of genomic medicine in endocrinology and post-genomic endocrine research

Constantine A. Stratakis

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In the mid 1980’s, two advances revolutionized Medicine in a way that is comparable only to some of the most important events in the approximately 3,000 years of its history. The first was the introduction of the concept of “positional cloning”, i.e. the idea that one can identify genes for human disease though knowing nothing or very little about their function…

Male offspring of both diabetic parents have higher insulin resistance and serum leptin levels compared to those with one diabetic parent

Adeela Shahid, Khalid P. Lone, Sadia Saeed, Muhammad Arslan

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OBJECTIVE: We studied the influence of positive family history (FH) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in male offspring using multiple metabolic and endocrine parameters in order to assess whether one or more of these parameters can be used as indicators for T2DM development later in life. DESIGN: Fifty male subjects with one diabetic parent (ODP) and thirty with both diabetic parents …

The prevalence of hypoglycemia and its impact on the quality of life (QoL) of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (The HYPO Study)

Grigorios Rombopoulos, Magdalini Hatzikou, Dimitra Latsou, John Yfantopoulos

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OBJECTIVE: To estimate the impact of hypoglycemia on the Quality of Life (QoL) and its prevalence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Greece. DESIGN: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in 6631 patients with T2DM …

Urinary steroid metabolites in a case of florid Ectopic Cushing’s syndrome and clinical correlations

Angelos Kyriacou, Karolina M. Stepien, Basil Issa

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A 51-year old woman was admitted with multiple cerebral, pulmonary and intra-abdominal abscesses. The combination of apparent immunosuppression, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypokalaemia, osteoporotic fractures and bilateral shoulder avascular necrosis led to a clinical diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) …

Hypoparathyroidism in a patient presenting with severe myopathy and skin rash. Case report and review of the literature

Vassiliki Syriou, Asimina Kolitsa, Lamprini Pantazi, Dimitrios Pikazis

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A 47-year old man with idiopathic hypoparathyroidism (IHP), presented as severe myopathy and skin rash is described. The serum muscle enzymes were increased. After treatment with calcium and vitamin D, the clinical condition improved, the skin rash gradually disappeared, and the muscle enzymes decreased and remained within the normal range thereafter.

Impact of dietary modification of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on the hormonal and metabolic profile of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Evangelia Tantalaki, Christina Piperi, Sarantis Livadas, Anastasios Kollias, Christos Adamopoulos, Aikaterini Koulouri, Charikleia Christakou, Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of dietary intervention on Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) intake on the hormonal and metabolic profile in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS: After baseline evaluation, 23 women with PCOS …

Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy in patients with previous neck surgery

Spiridon Dimas, Spiridon Michas, Ioannis Christakis, Christos Augoustis, Maria Alevizaki

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OBJECTIVE: Previous neck surgery (PNS) in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is considered as a contraindication for minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP). The purpose of our study was to determine the effectiveness of MIP in such patients …

Pituitary disorders in pregnancy

Alexandra Chrisoulidou, Maria Boudina, Niki Karavitaki, Eleni Bili, John Wass

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The pituitary gland is significantly affected during gestation in terms of both size and function. Due to this physiologic adaptation, endocrine evaluation and interpretation of imaging is far more complex than in the non-pregnant state. Pituitary disorders are rare in pregnancy, as they are usually associated with gonadal dysfunction …

Pre- and early post-partum adiponectin and Interleukin-1beta levels in women with and without gestational diabetes

Nikolaos Vitoratos, Georgios Valsamakis, George Mastorakos, Anastassios Boutsiadis, Nikolaos Salakos, Evagelia Kouskouni, George Creatsas

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate maternal serum adiponectin and Ιnterleukin-1beta (IL-1β) levels during the pre- and post-partum periods in pregnant women with and without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). DESIGN: Thirty control pregnant Caucasian women without GDM and thirty Body Mass Index (BMI) and age-matched Caucasian women with GDM examined in the outpatient clinic between …

The value of scintigraphy and ultrasonography in the preoperative localization of parathyroid glands in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and concomitant thyroid disease

Theodore K. Alexandrides, Konstantina Kouloubi, Apostolos G. Vagenakis, Spyros Yarmenitis, Trifon Spyridonidis, Pavlos Vassilakos, Dimitris Apostolopoulos

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Parathyroid scintigraphy and high-resolution ultrasonography are frequently used as preoperative localization procedures in primary hyperparathyroidism. However, when thyroid disease coexists, their diagnostic accuracy is probably abated. DESIGN: 56 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were prospectively evaluated with parathyroid scintigraphy…

TSH and thyroid hormones concentrations in patients with hypothyroidism receiving replacement therapy with L-thyroxine alone or in combination with L-triiodothyronine

Valentin V. Fadeyev, Tatiana B. Morgunova, Julia P. Sytch, Galina A. Melnichenko

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The aim of this study was to evaluate parameters of thyroid function in patients with primary hypothyroidism receiving either monotherapy with L-T4 or combination L-T4+L-T3. Fifty-eight women with primary hypothyroidism receiving L-T4 were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomised into two groups: Group 1 (n=42) patients continued monotherapy with L-T4, and Group 2 …

A Paradox: The Roles of Inositolphosphoglycans in mediating insulin sensitivity and Hyperandrogenism in the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Kai I. Cheang, Paulina Essah, John E. Nestler

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Current evidence suggests that insulin resistance contributes to the pathophysiologic features of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The observation that insulin resistance is a central feature of PCOS leads to studies of the insulin signaling system in this disorder. This article reviews the possible role of putative insulin mediators, inositolphosphoglycans (IPG) mediators, in PCOS. We will focus on how IPGs mediate (a) hyperandrogenism and (b) insulin sensitivity in this disorder…

Inverse association of leptin levels with renal cell carcinoma: Results from a case-control study

Themistoklis N. Spyridopoulos, Eleni Th. Petridou, Nick Dessypris, Agapios Terzidis, Alkistis Skalkidou, Charalambos Deliveliotis, George P. Chrousos and the Obesity and Cancer Oncology Group*

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OBJECTIVE: Leptin is primarily produced in adipose tissue and appears to play a modulatory role between metabolism and immunity. Given that obesity, a state of chronic inflammation, is an established risk factor for Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), we investigated the association between plasma leptin levels and RCC risk …

Elevated serum androstenedione is associated with a more severe phenotype in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Neoklis A. Georgopoulos, Efstathios Papadakis, Anastasia K. Armeni, Ilias Katsikis, Nikolaos D. Roupas, Dimitrios Panidis

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OBJECTIVE: Τo evaluate the impact of elevated serum Δ4A levels on the hormonal and metabolic features of the different phenotypes of PCOS. DESIGN: 1276 women with PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria were included …

The problem of exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism

Menelaos L. Batrinos

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Over the past two decades a plethora of publications and clinical practice data have established that subclinical thyroid dysfunction is a common condition occurring much more frequently than the overt expression of thyroid disease. Subclinical hypothyroidism is considered to be the most common of these entities…

Decreased circulating 25-(OH) Vitamin D concentrations in obese female children and adolescents: Positive associations with Retinol Binding Protein-4 and Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin

Dimitra Metheniti, Sophia Sakka, Maria Dracopoulou, Alexandra Margeli, Ioannis Papassotiriou, Christina Kanaka-Gantenbein, George P. Chrousos, Panagiota Pervanidou

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OBJECTIVE: Hypovitaminosis D has been associated with adult as well as childhood obesity. Retinol-binding-protein-4 (RBP-4) and Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin (NGAL) are altered in obese individuals. The aim of this study was to examine circulating 25-(OH) Vitamin D (25-(OH) D) concentrations …

Young adult patient with headache, fever and blurred vision

Stavroula A. Paschou, Konstantinos Tzioras, Vasiliki Trianti, Stavroula Lyra, Vasileios-Arsenios Lioutas, Andreas Seretis, Andromachi Vryonidou

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BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE:This case highlights the fact that acute pituitary apoplexy may be misdiagnosed due to being confused with other entities exhibiting similar symptoms, such as meningitis or subarachnoid hemorrhage. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A patient in his late 30s presented with sudden and severe frontal headache …

Short-chain fatty acids increase expression and secretion of stromal cell-derived factor-1 in mouse and human pre-adipocytes

Venkat N. Vangaveti, Catherine Rush, Linda Thomas, Roy R. Rasalam, Usman H. Malabu, Scott G. McCoombe, Richard L. Kennedy

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OBJECTIVE: Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) is expressed in pre-adipocytes but its role is unknown. We investigated butyrate (a histone deacetylase inhibitor – HDACi) and other short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the regulation of SDF-1. We further investigated whether effects of SCFA were signalled through G protein-coupled receptors …

The corticotropin releasing factor system in the liver: expression, actions and possible implications in hepatic physiology and pathology

Konstantinos A. Paschos, Efterpi Chouridou, Maria Koureta, Maria Lambropoulou, George Kolios, Ekaterini Chatzaki

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The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system plays a crucial regulatory role in the adaptation to exogenous and endogenous stress stimuli, as well as homeostasis. Apart from the central nervous system (CNS), the members of this neuropeptide family extend their actions in the periphery …