Chittari Venkata Harinarayan
The vitamin D endocrine system in now recognized as subserving a wide range of fundamental biological functions in cell differentiation, inhibition of cell growth as well as immunomodulation. Both forms of immunity, namely adaptive and innate, are regulated by 1,25(OH)2D3. The immune-modulatory properties of vitamin D suggest …
Eirini Lioudaki, Niki G. Mavroeidi, Dimitri P. Mikhailidis, Emmanouel S. Ganotakis
Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), defined as elevated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in the presence of normal circulating free thyroxine (FT4) and triiodothyronine (T3), is a relatively common condition. Replacement treatment with levothyroxine is justified only for individuals with TSH levels >10 mIU/l …
Amos Pines
A dramatic change has occurred over the past decade with regard to the use of hormones during the postmenopausal period. In the 90’s, the belief in the USA being that there was reason to recommend hormone therapy (HT) for the prevention of coronary artery disease, the guidelines of the American College of Physicians in 1992 were as follows …
Jie-Xue Pan, Jun-Yu Zhang, Zhang-Hong Ke, Fang-Fang Wang, John A. Barry, Paul J. Hardiman, Fan Qu
Androgens, which are mediated via the androgen receptor (AR), play important roles in normal follicular development and female fertility. However, just like a double-edged sword, besides the positive effects of androgen on follicular development, abnormal androgen levels, especially as in hyperandrogenism, seriously suppress normal follicular development …
Gerasimos P. Sykiotis, Athanasios G. Papavassiliou
Nuclear receptors are ligand-regulated transcription factors that evolved from an ancestral orphan receptor into a highly diverse family present throughout the entire animal kingdom. They encompass receptors for steroid and non-steroid hormones, vitamins and metabolic intermediates. These receptors signal through endocrine, paracrine, autocrine and intracrine networks …
Panagiotis Anagnostis, Asterios Karagiannis, Konstantinos Tziomalos, Anna I. Kakafika, Vasilios G. Athyros, Dimitri P. Mikhailidis
The widespread application of abdominal imaging procedures has resulted in an increased frequency of clinically silent adrenal masses. Adrenal incidentaloma (AI) is a term applied to an accidentally discovered adrenal mass on imaging performed for the investigation of an unrelated complaint …
Markus Luster, Michael Lassmann, Lutz S. Freudenberg, Christoph Reiners
Thyroid cancer, although very rare in childhood, represents the most common pediatric endocrine neoplasia. The low incidence and the resulting limited availability of prospective, randomized trials lead to a lack of evidence- based recommendations for treatment strategies. Total thyroidectomy and lymphadenectomy …
Adeeb Shehzad, Waqas Iqbal, Omer Shehzad, Young Sup Lee
Adiponectin is a white and brown adipose tissue hormone, also known as gelatin-binding protein-28 (GBP28), AdipoQ, adipocyte complement-related protein (ACRP30), or apM1. Adiponectin circulates in the bloodstream in trimeric, hexameric, and high-molecular-mass species, while different forms of adiponectin …
Edward M. Brown
The system that regulates extracellular calcium (Ca2+o) homeostasis maintains a nearly constant level of Ca2+o so as to ensure the availability of calcium for its numerous intra- and extracellular roles. The molecular cloning and characterization of a G protein-coupled, Ca2+o-sensing receptor has elucidated the mechanism through which parathyroid cells …
Ioannis P. Stathopoulos, Efstathios G. Ballas, Kalliopi Lampropoulou-Adamidou, George Trovas
While osteoporosis has been traditionally considered as a disease of aging women, it is becoming an increasingly important male health problem, with one in three fragility fractures after the age of 50 years occurring in men …
Vera Popovic, Felipe F. Casanueva
Recent data suggest that in addition to leptin’s role in conveying signals of the amount of energy stores to the central nervous system, this adipocyte secreted hormone interacts with the endocrine system to provide critical information about the size of fat stores, acting as a permissive factor that allows the triggering of energy demanding situations …
Artemis Karkanaki, Christos Vosnakis, Dimitrios Panidis
Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a homodimeric glycoprotein, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily. Over the last decade, a large number of studies examining the multiple roles of AMH have been published. AMH levels accurately reflect the ovarian follicular reserve and could, therefore …
Antje Körner, Susann Blüher, Thomas Kapellen, Ante Garten, Jürgen Klammt, Jürgen Kratzsch, Wieland Kiess
Body weight is regulated by a feedback loop in which peripheral signals report nutritional information to an integratory center in the brain. The cloning of the ob gene is consistent with this concept and suggests that body fat content in adult rodents is regulated by a negative feedback loop centered in the hypothalamus…
Nicholas J Sarlis, Loukas Gourgiotis
Thyroid cancer (TC) is the commonest endocrine malignancy. In the overwhelming majority of cases, thyroid carcinomas are well-differentiated malignancies that respond favorably to treatment; however, this outcome cannot be absolutely guaranteed. The absence of large prospective randomized clinical trials in TC—due to its low incidence and protracted clinical course in cases with persistent/recurrent metastatic disease—results in considerable debates regarding the optimal treatment and follow-up regimens in this malignancy…
Polyzois Makras, Socrates E. Papapoulos
Hypercalcaemia results from the failure of renal calcium excretion to compensate increased influx of calcium into the circulation from the intestine, the kidneys and the skeleton. Hypercalcaemia is a common metabolic abnormality of varying severity …
Zoe Iliodromiti, Nikolaos Antonakopoulos, Stavros Sifakis, Panagiotis Tsikouras, Angelos Daniilidis, Kostantinos Dafopoulos, Dimitrios Botsis, Nikolaos Vrachnis
Considering that preterm birth accounts for about 6-10% of all births in Western countries and of more than 65% of all perinatal deaths, elucidation of the particularly complicated mechanisms of labor is essential for determination of appropriate and effective therapeutic interventions …
Catherine Dacou-Voutetakis
The case presented by Petzold et al in this issue1 highlights certain critical aspects of management of the child and adolescent with endocrine problems which are both of theoretical and practical interest. First, the discrepancy between the hormonal profile and the clinical manifestations …
Niyutchai Chaithongdi, Jose S. Subauste, Christian A. Koch, Stephen A. Geraci
This article is aimed at providing a practical up-to-date review of the precipitating factors, diagnosis, management and secondary prevention of hyperglycemic emergencies (diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS) to assist critical care physicians and hospitalists caring for these patients …
Ioannis Ilias, Salvatore Alesci, Philip W. Gold, George P. Chrousos
The longer life expectancy of women than that of men and, therefore, the longer exposure to fracture risk has, at least partially, led to neglect of osteoporosis in men. Recently, unipolar depression, which is 2 times more frequent in women than in men, has been linked to osteoporosis…
Atieh Amouzegar, Ladan Mehran, Farzaneh Sarvghadi, Hossein Delshad, Fereidoun Azizi, John H. Lazarus
Thyroid hormones play a critical role in neurodevelopment both during pregnancy and postnatally. The fetal thyroid produces sufficient amounts of thyroid hormones just after 16 weeks of pregnancy prior to which the fetus is totally dependent on maternal FT4 for its physical and neural development …
Dragan Micic, Goran Cvijovic, Vladimir Trajkovic, Leonidas H. Duntas, Snezana Polovina
Metformin is considered, in conjunction with lifestyle modification, as a first-line treatment modality for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Recently, several clinical studies have reported reduced incidence of neoplastic diseases in DM type 2 patients treated with metformin, as compared to diet or other antidiabetic agents …
HORMONES 2007, 6(3):173-193 Paraskevi Moutsatsou Department of Biological Chemistry, Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece Download PDF Abstract The classical phytoestrogens, so far known, constitute a group of plant-derived compounds which include mainly isoflavones, lignans, coumestanes, stilbenes and the flavonoids quercetin and kaempherol. The discovery of many more novel estrogen-like compounds in the Read More
Mubarak Al-Gahtany, Eva Horvath, Kalman Kovacs
Pituitary hyperplasia is rare, difficult to diagnose and sometimes controversial. The hyperplasia could be physiologic which is usually reversible, or pathologic which varies in presentation from incidental to tumor like lesion with and without hormonal disturbance. Any pituitary cell is capable of undergoing hyperplasia in the presence of the right stimuli …
Gerasimos P. Sykiotis, Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, Athanasios G. Papavassiliou
The biomedical sciences are currently in transition between the bloom of fundamental knowledge and the fruition of specialized clinical application.1 Following the success of the Human Genome Project, the roadmap is now in place for the description of physiology and illness in molecular terms…
Derek V. Henley, Kenneth S. Korach
A large number of natural and synthetic chemicals have been identified that are reported to disrupt the normal functioning of the endocrine system and produce untoward effects in hormone-responsive target tissues and organs in both humans and animals. These chemicals are broadly referred to as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and consist of numerous physically …