Maria Papadopoulou, Sofia Doula, Kostas Kitsios, Themistoklis Kaltsas, Konstantina Kosta
The McCune-Albright Syndrome (MAS) is a sporadic rare disease first described in 1936 by McCune and separately by Albright. MAS is characterized by a triad of physical signs: café-au-lait spots, polyostotic fibrous dysplasia and autonomous endocrine hyperfunction. MAS is predominantly observed in girls and is rarely reported in males…
Afsaneh Talaei, Masoud Amini, Mansour Siavash, Maryam Zare
OBJECTIVE: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) are the most abundant steroid hormones in the body. Recently, DHEA-S has gained interest as an antidepressant substance, with positive effects on autoimmune disease such as lupus and ulcerative colitis, as well as obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes …
Djuro Macut, Ivana Božić Antić, Jelena Nestorov, Vladanka Topalović, Jelica Bjekić Macut, Dimitrios Panidis, Biljana Kastratović Kotlica, Efstathios Papadakis, Gordana Matić, Danijela Vojnović Milutinović
OBJECTIVE: Most women with PCOS have increased adrenal androgen production, enhanced peripheral metabolism of cortisol and elevation in urinary excretion of its metabolites. Increased cortisol clearance in PCOS is followed by a compensatory overdrive of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis …
John Papadimas, Dimitrios G. Goulis, Eudokia Mandala, George Georgiadis, Vassiliki Zournatzi, Basil C. Tarlatzis, John N. Bontis
β-thalassemia (β-thal) is characterized by disturbances of the reproductive system. The aim of the present study was: 1) to assess the hypothalamic _ pituitary – gonadal axis in patients with β-thal in relation to their phenotype and 2) to determine prognostic features of current gonadal status. We studied 135 patients (67 males and 68 females) with β-thal through history…
Zhanna E. Belaya, Galina A. Melnichenko, Ljudmila Y. Rozhinskaya, Valentin V. Fadeev, Tatjana M. Alekseeva, Olga K. Dorofeeva, Natalja I. Sasonova, Galina S. Kolesnikova
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of subclinical hyperthyroidism of variable etiology on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone metabolism in postmenopausal women. DESIGN: T he study included data of 88 postmenopausal women classified into four groups depending on the etiology of subclinical hyperthyroidism: (1) 20 with toxic multinodular goiter without history of clinical hyperthyroidism …
Dionisios Chrysis, Andrei S. Chagin, Lars Savendahl
OBJECTIVE: In skeletal muscle, glucocorticoids induce catabolism and proteolysis which is accomplished via the ubiquitin (Ub) proteolytic pathway. Cardiac muscle is a striated muscle which, compared to skeletal muscle, more abundantly expresses components of the Ub pathway, thus suggesting an important role for this pathway in heart physiology …
Fabio Rotondo, Antonio Di Ieva, Kalman Kovacs, Michael D. Cusimano, Luis V. Syro, Eleftherios P. Diamandis, George M. Yousef
OBJECTIVE: Human kallikrein-like peptidase 10 (KLK10), a serine protease, plays an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation and tumor growth. In this work, we investigated KLK10 immunoexpression in various types of surgically removed human pituitary tumors …
Anastasios Papadimitriou, Dimitrios Chiotis, Georgios Tsiftis, Maria Hatzisimeon, Maria Maniati, Xenofon Krikos, Anastasia Tzonou, Catherine Dacou-Voutetakis
Statural growth is dependent on hereditary and environmental factors, i.e disease, nutrition. The improvement of socioeconomic conditions that took place during the 20th century resulted in a secular trend towards greater height and earlier sexual maturation. Greek society has changed dramatically from a mainly agricultural society …
Sotirios Bethanis, George Koutsodontis, Theodosia Palouka, Christos Avgoustis, Drakoulis Yannoukakos, Thalia Bei, Savas Papadopoulos, Dimitrios Linos, Stylianos Tsagarakis
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) is a syndrome of familial neoplasias characterized by medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), pheochromocytoma and hyperplasia of the parathyroid glands. RET protooncogene mutations are responsible for MEN 2A. Mutations in exons 10 or 11 have been identified in more than 96% of patients with MEN 2A…
Paola Travaglino, Cristina Meazza, Sara Pagani, Giada Biddeci, Mauro Bozzola
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a secular trend in growth occurred during the last century in Pygmies from Cameroon (West Pygmies) and in Bantu rural farmers, the latter being studied to serve as controls. DESIGN: The evolution in height of West Pygmies and Bantu farmers from 1911 to 2006 was evaluated using data from the literature …
Yueye Huang, Jiaqi Chen, Jie Yang, Kexiu Song, Xingchun Wang, Xiaoyun Cheng, Shen Qu
OBJECTIVE: Acanthosis nigricans (AN) has been closely associated with obesity. Depression has also been shown to be disproportionally prevalent among obese people. However, there is still a paucity of studies on the relationship between depressive symptoms and AN in obese patients. This study examined the difference in metabolic disorders and depressive symptoms …
Sarantis Livadas, Dimitrios J. Hadjidakis, Maria I. Argyropoulou, Maria Stamatelatou, Dimitrios Kelekis, Sotirios A. Raptis
Acromegaly is caused by excessive growth hormone secretion, usually from a pituitary adenoma. The use of somatostatin analogues as primary or adjunctive therapy has been widely applied in the management of acromegaly. We are aware of only three reported cases of complete shrinkage of a pituitary adenoma after long-term analogue administration…
Eleni Thodou, Theodore Argyrakos, George Kontogeorgos
OBJECTIVE: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) belongs to the family of carbohydrate-binding proteins with high affinity for galactoside and is involved in many biological processes including cell growth and differentiation, cell adhesion, tumor progression, apoptosis and metastasis. The aim of this study was to disclose differences in the expression of Gal-3 in silent …
Nicos Skordis, Christos Shammas, Elisavet Efstathiou, Amalia Sertedaki, Vassos Neocleous, Leonidas Phylactou
BACKGROUND: The clinical spectrum of 5α-reductase deficiency, caused by mutations in the SRD5A2 gene, ranges from complete female appearance of the external genitalia at birth to nearly complete male phenotype. CASE REPORT: A 14-year-old girl presented with primary amenorrhea (PA) and lack of breast development …
Hidetoshi Ikeda, Masataka Kudo
Objective: We evaluated the long-term effects of growth hormone (GH) on markers of quality of life, glucose metabolism, and lipid metabolism to validate the adequacy of long-term GH replacement therapy for adult GH deficiency (AGHD). Design: Eighty-three of 100 sequentially followed patients who received GH therapy …
Harilaos S. Vontetsianos, Spiros E. Davris, George D. Christopoulos, Catherine Dacou-Voutetakis
The effect of Adenotonsillectomy on somatic growth was studied prospectively in 57, randomly selected children (31 boys, 26 girls), aged 5.03±1.32 (mean±1SD) years. The indication for surgery was adenotonsillar hypertrophy with or without recurrent infections. Weight, height, triceps skinfold thickness, and Body Mass Index …
Dragan Micic, Leonidas Duntas, Goran Cvijovic, Aleksandra Kendereski, Mirjana Sumarac-Dumanovic, Peter Jehle, Svetlana Zoric, Danica Pejkovic, Mary Lague, Carlos Dieguez, Felipe Casanueva
OBJECTIVE: Ghrelin, a potent stimulator of GH secretion, also acts as an orexigenic hormone. Plasma ghrelin levels rise before meals with postprandial reduction, suggesting that circulating levels of enteroinsular hormones might influence ghrelin secretion. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ghrelin on enteroinsular hormones in healthy men…
Cenk Aral, Mustafa Akkiprik, Sinan Caglayan, Zehra Atabey, Gokhan Ozişik, Nuray Bekiroglu, Ayşe Ozer
OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms have been implicated in the pathophysiology of human diseases. Among them, a T>C nucleotide transition on the 16189 nucleotide position of mtDNA has been studied in several metabolic diseases including diabetes and obesity. In this study we aimed to investigate the association of this polymorphism …
Aleksander Giwercman, Yvonne Lundberg Giwercman
An ever-increasing proportion of young males treated for cancer are cured. Therefore, one of the major challenges of modern Clinical Oncology is to ensure good quality of life. Cancer disease per se as well as cancer treatment may have a negative impact on androgen production, thereby leading to subclinical or clinically overt hypogonadism …
Tasoula Tsilchorozidou, John G Yovos
Osteomalacia associated with adult onset Fanconi syndrome is thought to result from hypophosphataemia due to renal phosphate loss and relative 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 deficiency. In this disorder, the impaired renal phosphate uptake occurs as part of a generalized tubular defect in association with other features such as bicarbonuria, glycosuria and aminoaciduria…
Yogendra S. Rajawat, Ioannis Bossis
Autophagy (ATG) is the process of bulk degradation and recycling of long-lived proteins, macromolecular aggregates, and damaged intracellular organelles. Cellular homeostasis requires continuous removal of worn-out components and replacement …
Nicos Skordis, Elisavet Efstathiou, Tassos C. Kyriakides, Antria Savvidou, Savvas C. Savva, Leonidas A. Phylactou, Christos Shammas, Vassos Neocleous
OBJECTIVE: The incidence of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Greek-Cypriot children aged less than 15 years between 1990 and 2009 was examined along with gender differences concerning the age of onset and the seasonal variation at manifestation of the disease …
Monica Livia Gheorghiu, Simona Găloiu, Mădălina Vintilă, Mariana Purice, Dan Hortopan, Anda Dumitraşcu, Mihail Coculescu, Cătălina Poiană
BACKGROUND: Somatostatin analogs (SSA) are now considered standard therapy for acromegaly, as primary or adjunctive treatment after pituitary surgery. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of SSA and the effect of dose escalation in non-operated patients with acromegaly as compared to patients treated after pituitary surgery in a Romanian tertiary care center …
George N. Zografos, Alexandra Stathopoulou, George Mitropapas, John Karoubalis, George Kontogeorgos, Gregory Kaltsas, George Piaditis, George I. Papastratis
We report a case of an insulinoma that was not identified on either Computerized Tomography (CT) scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) revealed a small insulinoma located at the body of the pancreas, which was histologically confirmed. The patient underwent a laparotomy but no tumour was identified either on palpation or with intra-operative ultrasound …
Katerina Saltiki, Adrianna Cimponeriu, Kyriaki Lili, Melpomeni Peppa, Eleni Anastasiou, Maria Alevizaki
Objective: Coronary artery disease (CAD) risk increases in women after the menopause. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of diabetes on the severity of CAD in postmenopausal women undergoing coronary angiography. Design: 180 postmenopausal women underwent coronary angiography for suspected CAD …