Dimitrios Panidis, Konstantinos Tziomalos, Efstathios Papadakis, Eleni A. Kandaraki, Ilias Katsikis
In 2007, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) issued guidelines in Thessaloniki regarding the use of metformin and clomiphene for the induction of ovulation in patients with anovulatory polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) …
Anastasia D. Dede, George P. Lyritis, Symeon Tournis
Anorexia nervosa is a serious psychiatric disorder accompanied by high morbidity and mortality. It is characterized by emaciation due to self-starvation and displays a unique hormonal profile. Alterations in gonadal axis, growth hormone resistance with low insulin-like growth factor I levels, hypercortisolemia and low triiodothyronine …
Georgios Boutzios, John Griniatsos, Nikoletta Dimitriou, Athanassios Zilos, Stavroula Antoniou, Evangelos Felekouras, Gregory Kaltsas
OBJECTIVE: Gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms Type 1 (GEN type 1) are mostly localized indolent tumors, with only a minority developing lymph node or distant metastasis. Although they are usually managed conservatively, large, invasive, recurrent and grade 2 lesions may require surgical treatment …
Christopher Reiners
There is no evidence that natural radiation (cosmic radiation or from natural radioiosotopes) increases the risk for thyroid diseases. Moreover, while it has been proven that exposure to external medical radiation or to external and internal radiation by atomic bomb explosions leads to an increased risk for thyroid cancer …
Demetrios A. Koutras
Endocrinologists not infrequently confront the problem of inconsistent blood values of thyroxine among patients receiving L-thyroxine preparations. The question is how universal this problem is …
Stelios Fountoulakis, Agathocles Tsatsoulis
Blood pressure (BP) is the outcome of the interaction of intravascular volume, cardiac output and peripheral resistance. Hypertension is defined as BP exceeding 139/89 mmHg, whereas “pre-hypertension” refers to systolic BP of 120 to 139 mmHg or a diastolic BP of 80 to 89 mmHg. Traditionally, hypertension has been subdivided into two forms: essential or primary and secondary…
Dafni-Kalliopi Papafragkaki, George Tolis
Obesity is one of the most frequently encountered medical problems of our time. Among the complications of this pathologic entity, renal disease is an important issue and its pathophysiologic mechanisms are a challenge for the physician, since a variety of etiologic factors are implicated in its genesis. For example, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance …
Friedhelm Raue, Karin Frank-Raue
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) is an autosomal dominant tumour syndrome caused by germline activating mutations of the RET proto-oncogene. It has a strong penetrance of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and can be associated with bilateral pheochromocytoma and primary hyperparathyroidism (MEN2A) within a single patient or family…
Ulla Feldt-Rasmussen, Åse Krogh Rasmussen
Coexistence of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and thyroid autoimmune diseases could represent a mere coincidence due to the frequent occurrence of autoimmunity, but there may also be a pathological and causative link between the two conditions. The coincidence of DTC with Hashimoto’s disease has been variably reported …
Evangelia Zapanti, Konstantinos Terzidis, George Chrousos
Abnormalities of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis have been documented in HIV patients in the early as well as late stages of the infection and range from subtle subclinical disturbances to frank adrenal insufficiency. Potential etiologies of these disorders include opportunistic infections, neoplasms …
Stelios Fountoulakis, George Philippou, Agathocles Tsatsoulis
The thyroid gland is dependent on dietary iodine for the production of thyroid hormones, normal iodine requirement being about 150-200μg/day. Long-term deficiency in iodine intake is associated with the development of goiter. When the prevalence of goiter in a population rises above 5-10%, the problem is considered endemic …
Maria I. Argyropoulou, Dimitrios Nikiforos Kiortsis
Magnetization transfer (MT) techniques provide tissue contrast which depends mainly on the concentration of macromolecules. The magnetization transfer phenomenon is determined by the restricted macromolecular protons and is quantified by the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). Since many macromolecular structures are implicated in the secretory activity of the pituitary gland …
Sofia Kitsiou-Tzeli, Aggeliki Kolialexi, Ariadni Mavrou
Microdeletions, translocations or other rearrangements of chromosomal region 22q11.2 have been reported in association with >80 different birth defects and malformations occurring in many combinations and with widely differing severity…
Hesham Fahmy, Katerina Spyridaki, Bhimanna Kuppast, George Liapakis
The maintenance of homeostasis is a basic prerequisite for life, ensuring the stability of our body in response to external or internal stimuli (stressful stimuli). The maintenance of homeostasis requires alterations in the function of the endocrine system …
Marinella Tzanela, Marieta Christoforaki, Lida Papastathopoulou, Dimitra Vassiliadi, Effie Botoula, Panagiotis Trivizas, Nikos C. Thalassinos
Objective: Post-treatment monitoring of acromegalic patients is a matter of controversy, as discrepancies between GH and IGF-I levels have been reported. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of acid-labile subunit (ALS), a component of the 150 kD IGF-I/IGFBP-3/ALS complex, and the growth hormone binding protein (GHBP) in the follow-up of patients with acromegaly after therapeutic intervention…
Arash Babaei, Sayyed Hamid Zarkesh-Esfahani, Ehsan Bahrami, Richard J. Ross
Leptin, the adipocyte derived hormone, has a pivotal role in regulating energy homeostasis and appetite. Beyond this essential role in bodyweight control, leptin also regulates the immune responses. Leptin has pro-inflammatory effects on T cell populations, shifting the T helper balance towards a TH1 phenotype, through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulation …
Peter D. Papapetrou
The adverse events of the nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates are reviewed. Oral bisphosphonates (alendronate, risedronate and ibandronate), mainly used for the treatment of osteoporosis, have been associated with adverse events from the upper gastrointestinal tract …
Alexandra Bargiota, Konstantinos Dimitropoulos, Vassilios Tzortzis,, Georgios N. Koukoulis
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common disease worldwide and a growing public health burden. The number of people with diabetes is increasing due to population growth, aging, urbanization, and increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. Diabetes is known to cause multiple medical …
Lambrini Gouva, Agathocles Tsatsoulis
The effects of estrogens on reproductive tissues and climacteric symptoms are unambiguous. However, their effects on other tissues and, in particular, the cardiovascular system remain controversial. In general, premenopausal women are protected from coronary heart disease (CHD) compared with aged-matched men but this `female protection’ appears to be lost after menopause, suggesting beneficial effects of female sex hormones on the cardiovascular system…
Evagelos N Liberopoulos, Moses S Elisaf
Thyroid disorders are known to influence lipid metabolism and are common in dyslipidemic patients. Overt and subclinical hypothyroidism have an adverse effect on the serum lipid profile that may predispose to the development of atherosclerotic disease. Although thyroid substitution therapy is beneficial for patients with overt hypothyroidism …
Nikolaos Pontikides, Spyros Karras, Athina Kaprara, Angeliki Cheva, Argyrios Doumas, Dimitrios Botsios, Aris Moschidis, Elias Efthimiou, John Wass, Gerasimos E. Krassas
BACKGROUND: Parathyroid cysts (PC) are uncommon entities in routine clinical practice. The vast majority are nonfunctioning and are commonly present as asymptomatic nodular cervical lesions. PC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an asymptomatic neck mass …
Athina Kaprara, Gerasimos E. Krassas
The relation of thyroid autoimmunity to miscarriage is an important issue that has attracted the interest of many investigators. A number of papers have been published so far, which include healthy women, women with recurrent miscarriage and those undergoing assisted reproductive techniques. Most studies have shown a significant positive association between the presence of thyroid autoantibodies and miscarriage rate…
Sarah M. Creighton
In contemporary management of the infant with ambiguous genitalia assigned to a female gender surgery plays a central role. Once the infant is assigned to a female sex of rearing, feminising genital surgery almost always follows in an attempt to restore normality. This management is now being challenged by adult patients and other medical …
Menelaos L. Batrinos
The ovaries follow a different course of aging from the other endocrine glands and organs. Instead of an inevitable progressive deterioration with advancing age, like all other structures and functions of the organism, including the male gonad, the testis, in the late thirties the ovaries undergo an abrupt diminution …
George Vassilakos, Anastassios Philippou, Panagiotis Tsakiroglou, Michael Koutsilieris
Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a multipotent growth factor involved in the growth, development and regulation of homeostasis in a tissue-specific manner. Alternative splicing, multiple transcription initiation sites and different polyadelynation signals give rise to diverse mRNA isoforms …