Theano D. Kontopoulou, Spyros G. Marketos
Many medical terms have a long history. They are first introduced as a concept and later acquire their proper name. In this article we trace the origin of the term homeostasis, which in modern medicine means the complex balance and the constancy of all aspects of body function and the coordinated regulation of its component fluids and cells…
Athanasios D. Anastasilakis, Dimitrios G. Goulis, Marina Kita, Avraam Avramidis
OBJECTIVE: Bisphosphonates are potent antiresorptive agents used for a spectrum of metabolic bone diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the adverse effects (AEs) of alendronate, etidronate and risedronate prescribed in a non-selected population, attending a single institution on an outpatient basis…
Run Yu, Nicholas N. Nissen, Bonnie Balzer, Xuemo Fan
We report a syndrome of four-limb proximal fragility fractures associated with HIV infection, cholestatic liver failure, and histiocytic infiltration of bone marrow in a 40-year-old African American man. The patient presented with multiple fractures in the proximal humeri …
Efterpi Chouridou, Maria Lambropoulou, Maria Koureta, Christina Zarouchlioti, Ioanna Balgouranidou, Evangelia Nena, Nikolaos Papadopoulos, Ekaterini Chatzaki
OBJECTIVE: The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family consists of the neuropeptides CRF, Ucn I, II and III and the binding sites CRFR1, CRFR2 and CRF-BP. It regulates stress response and the homeostasis of an organism. In this study, we examined the presence of the CRF system in the human hearts of normal and pathological fetuses. DESIGN: Heart tissues from 40 archival human fetuses were divided …
Maria Alevizaki, Lia-Angela Moulopoulos, Emily Mantzos, Demetrios A. Koutras
A patient with undiagnosed pituitary insufficiency who also had a toxic thyroid adenoma is presented. The T3 secreted by the adenoma apparently corrected the secondary thyroid failure, but also aggravated the secondary adrenal failure and almost precipitated adrenal crisis. The diagnostic work-up in such an unusual co-existence is discussed…
Baris Akinci, Abdurrahman Comlekci, Serkan Yener, Tevfik Demir, Firat Bayraktar, Faize Yuksel, Sena Yesil
OBJECTIVE: There is controversy as to whether hypothyroidism increases cardiovascular risk. The effect of levothyroxine on the cardiovascular risk profile is also unclear. Recent studies suggest that there is evidence of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in hypothyroidism. Soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) is a protein expressed mainly by activated platelets …
Cinzia Carrozza, Rosa Lapolla, Jacopo Gervasoni, Carlo Antonio Rota, Pietro Locantore, Alfredo Pontecorvi, Cecilia Zuppi, Silvia Persichilli
OBJECTIVE: Mitotane is an adrenocytolytic agent used in adrenocortical carcinoma, inducing adrenal insufficiency, requiring replacement treatment. Such therapy is not easy to monitor because of mitotane interference. Salivary cortisol reflects a free fraction of plasma …
Polyzois Makras, Antonios Galanos, Stavroula Rizou, Athanasios D. Anastasilakis, George P. Lyritis
OBJECTIVE: This article describes the development and validation of the osteoporosis treatment questionnaire (OSTREQ), which is a physician-reported outcome tool aiming to evaluate physicians’ criteria in the choice of osteoporosis treatment. DESIGN: The questionnaire –named OSTREQ– consisting of 17 questions that were divided into eight sections …
Athina Markou, Justin Vale, Bhumita Vadgama, Marjori Walker, Stephen Franks
A 29-year old male and his wife presented with an 18 month history of primary infertility. History and initial investigations suggested no major female pathologic component but a semen analysis revealed azoospermia. There was no history of any sexual dysfunction and neither partner was receiving any medication …
Ioannis Karamouzis, Dimitrios Grekas, Michael Karamouzis, Athanasios Triantos, Svetla Vasileva-Staikova, Dimitrios Kovachev, Afroditi Dimitriadou
The concentration of 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2· (8-iso-PGF2α in biological fluids has been considered as the most reliable biochemical index of the lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in patients with several pathological conditions including end stage renal failure …
Jana Phillips, Honey E. East, Sarah E. French, Eugen Melcescu, Robert D. Hamilton, William C. Nicholas, Jonathan F. Fratkin, Andrew D. Parent, Gustavo Luzardo, Christian A. Koch
INTRODUCTION: Malignant prolactinoma is an exceedingly rare endocrine tumor and cannot be diagnosed on histological grounds alone. Similarly to other neuroendocrine tumors such as pheochromocytoma, the mitoses index, Ki-67, p53, and others are utilized in helping understand …
Spyridon N. Karras, William B.Grant, Declan P. Naughton, Kalliopi Kotsa
We read with interest the recent article by Katrinaki et al. The authors report on cross-sectional values of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations from a large Mediterranean cohort in Crete, Greece …
Ioannis Habeos, Venetsana Kyriazopoulou, Dionysios Chartoumpekis, Agathoklis Psyrogiannis
A 40-year old male residing in the Mediterranean region and afflicted with chronic pancreatitis and diabetes is presented. This is a case of chronic calcific non-alcoholic pancreatitis with characteristic intraductal calculi on abdominal X-ray. Five years following the initial episode of pancreatitis …
Gulcin Akinci, Baris Akinci, Senol Coskun, Petek Bayindir, Zeliha Hekimsoy, Bilgin Ozmen
Objective: Childhood obesity is associated with impaired endothelial function, insulin resistance and inflammation. Being at risk for overweight has been defined as having a body mass index (BMI) between the 85th and 94th percentile for age and sex. In this study, we looked for features linked to cardiovascular risk in children who are at risk for overweight …
Atieh Amouzegar, Fereidoun Azizi
Objective: To assess variations of urinary iodine concentration (UIC) during a 4-week period among pregnant and non-pregnant women in an iodine-replete area. Design: Pregnant (in their first trimester of pregnancy) and non-pregnant women referred to two maternity hospitals in Tehran were consecutively recruited from September 2005 to March 2006 …
Flora Bacopoulou, George I. Lambrou, Maria-Evangelia Rodanaki,Evgenia Stergioti, Vasiliki Efthymiou, Efthymios Deligeoroglou, Sophia L. Markantonis
OBJECTIVE: To measure, for the first time, serum kisspeptin concentrations in adolescent females with anorexia nervosa (AN) and associated amenorrhea, and investigate potential correlations of kisspeptin with anthropometric, bone and hormonal data. DESIGN: Setting: University Adolescent Medicine Center. Participants: Females aged 12-20 years with typical or atypical AN (based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria) and controls …
Gerasimos P. Sykiotis, George D. Kalliolias, Christos Terezis, Athanasios G. Papavassiliou
In the homeland of Hippocrates, the study of the history and philosophy of medicine is remarkably infrequent among medical practitioners. It is excluded from the curricula of the majority of medical schools and from the hobbies and pastimes of most physicians and medical students…
Thalia Bei, Constantinos Tilkeridis, Stavros Garantziotis, Sosipatros A. Boikos, Konstantinos Kazakos, Constantinos Simopoulos, Constantine A. Stratakis
OBJECTIVE: We recently reported the association of the Sp1 site polymorphism of the COL1A1 gene with lumbar disk disease (LDD). In the present study we searched for a different polymorphism of the COL1A1 gene (which is usually not in linkage disequilibrium with the Sp1 site) in subjects with LDD…
Angeliki Krikri, Vasileios Alexopoulos, Emmanouil Zoumakis, Paraskevas Katsaronis, Evangelos Balafas, Gregory Kouraklis, Panagiotis E. Karayannacos, George P. Chrousos, Gregory Skalkeas
OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive operations, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy and adrenalectomy, result in a more rapid recovery of normal function, less physiological disturbances and less stress to the organism than similar open operations. The purpose of this study was to determine the stress response associated …
Nicolas C. Nicolaides, Evangelia Charmandari
Glucocorticoids play a fundamental role in many physiologic functions and contribute substantially to the achievement of homeostasis. These pleiotropic glucocorticoid actions are mediated by a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor, the human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR), which may influence the transcription …
Effie Poulakou-Rebelakou, Costas Tsiamis, Spyros G. Marketos
In June of 2005 the term hormone completed a life span of one century. The word that Ernest Henry Starling included in one of his four lectures to the Royal Society of Physicians of London, given in June 1905, definitively established the permanent representation in terminology for the products secreted by the endocrine glands…
Theodoros D. Theodoridis, Leonidas Zepiridis, Menelaos Zafrakas, Grigoris Grimbizis, Antonios Tantsis, Dimitra Kyrou, John N. Bontis
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a Levonorgestrel-releasing Intrauterine System (LNG-IUS) in controlling menorrhagia in comparison with endometrial thermal rollerball ablation. DESIGN: Seventy-nine consecutive patients with menorrhagia underwent either LNG-IUS insertion (n=42) or hysteroscopical endometrial thermal rollerball ablation (n=37) in a prospective, observational, comparative study …
Snezana Polovina, Vera Popovic, Leonidas Duntas, Natasa Milic, Dragan Micic
OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between the elevated TSH and fracture risk in postmenopausal women with subclinical hypothyroidism for evaluation of individuals with a high risk for osteoporotic fractures. DESIGN: FRAX score calculation (10-year estimated risk for bone fracture) …
Waldemar Kanczkowski, Mariko Sue, Stefan R. Bornstein
The adrenal gland is a key component of the stress system in the human body. Multiple direct and paracrine interactions between different cell types and their progenitors take place within the adrenal gland microenvironment. These unique interactions are supported by high vascularization and the adrenal cortex extracellular matrix. Alterations in the adrenal gland microenvironment are known to influence the progression of several pathological conditions, such as obesity and sepsis, and to be influenced …
Athanasios Diamandopoulos, Pavlos Goudas, Demetra Patsy
Physicians and scholars of antiquity were well aware that the function of the testicles of humans and animals was not restricted to the production of sperm alone but that it was directly related to sexuality and secondary sexual characteristics. This concept was the natural conclusion of their observations on the macroscopical results of the removal of testicular tissue …