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) …
Michael S. Shawky
Continuous development of quick parathyroid hormone assays has resulted in a corresponding expansion of their applications in the practical landscape. In-theatre measurement of the parathyroid hormone has long been recognized as a valuable adjunct in parathyroid surgery, with other applications being incorporated in thyroid surgery and out-of-theatre uses …
Rikke R. Soerensen, Trine H. Johannsen, Niels E. Skakkebaek, Ewa Rajpert-De Meyts
OBJECTIVE: Testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) comprises testicular germ cell cancer, cryptorchidism and some cases of male infertility and hypospadias, which can be linked to impairment of intrauterine gonadal development. Among histological signs of TDS, large Leydig cell (LC) clusters (micronodules) are frequently present. This study aimed to investigate possible associations …
Stergios A. Polyzos, Athanasios D. Anastasilakis, Georgios Arsos
Fine needle biopsy (FNB) is regarded as the method of choice in the management of thyroid nodules because of its simplicity, reliability, accuracy and cost-effectiveness. Indeed, the use of FNB has halved the number of patients undergoing thyroidectomy …
Marià Alemany
The clairvoyant early implication of sex hormones in the characterization of the metabolic syndrome (MS) was detected early, and in accordance with the well-known sex-related main patterns of fat deposition in obesity: gynoid and android …
Kyriakos Aloumanis, Kostantinos Mavroudis
Osteoporosis and depression are two chronic diseases that affect large population groups with great impact on morbidity, mortality and quality of life. An association between osteoporosis and depression has been described in the literature …
Alexandra Chrisoulidou, Paschalia K. Iliadou, Eleni Doumala, Lemonia Mathiopoulou, Maria Boudina, Maria Alevizaki, Frideriki Patakiouta, Ekaterini Xinou, Kalliopi Pazaitou-Panayiotou
OBJECTIVE: Thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) carcinoma is a rare entity and its management is controversial. The aim of this retrospective study was to: (a) identify patients with TGDC carcinoma followed up in our clinic and (b) study specific characteristics of the disease and their association with thyroid carcinoma …
Rosaria Maddalena Ruggeri, Paola Minciullo, Salvatore Saitta, Salvatore Giovinazzo, Rosaria Certo, Alfredo Campennì, Francesco Trimarchi, Sebastiano Gangemi, Salvatore Benvenga
OBJECTIVE: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is considered to be a Th1-related autoimmune disease (AID). Recent studies revealed that Th17 lymphocytes (producing mostly IL-17, IL-21 and IL-22) play a major role in numerous AIDs commonly thought to be Th1 diseases. More recently, another subset of Th cells …
Charikleia Christakou, Anastasios Kollias, Christina Piperi, Ilias Katsikis, Dimitrios Panidis, Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis
OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of oral contraceptives (OCPs) and metformin on atherogenic markers, including serum levels of advanced glycated end products (AGEs) and C-reactive protein (CRP), in lean women (Body Mass Index below 25 kg/m2) with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), defined by NIH criteria …
Ioannis D. Kostakis, Kyriaki G. Cholidou, Despina Perrea
The distal nephron, which is the site of the micro-regulation of water absorption and ion handling in the kidneys, is under the control of aldosterone. Impairment of the mineralocorticoid signal transduction pathway results in resistance to the action of aldosterone and of mineralocorticoids in general …
Giulia Cogni, Luca Chiovato
Autoimmune diseases are a group of heterogeneous disorders characterized by abnormal lymphocytic activation directed against self-tissues. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD) are two of the most common clinical expressions of organ-specific autoimmunity …
George N. Zografos, Iraklis Perysinakis, Eustathia Kyrodimou, Eva Kassi, Gregory Kaltsas
Although the great majority of incidentalomas are adrenocortical adenomas, a number of them, depending on the size and radiological characteristics of the lesions, will turn out to be carcinomas. These tumors may present as suspicious on initial evaluation and potentially malignant or malignant on histology …
Genovefa D. Kolovou, Vana Kolovou, Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos, Ioannis Vasiliadis, Vassiliki Giannakopoulou, Peggy M. Kostakou, Vassiliki Vartela, Sophie Mavrogeni
OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we evaluated the influence of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphisms on lipid concentrations of 178 Greek men of similar age with coronary heart disease (CHD), but varying body mass index (BMI). DESIGN: Patients were divided according to their BMI …
Charalampos Mamoulakis, Spyridon Antypas, Frank Sofras, Atsushi Takenaka, Nikolaos Sofikitis
Normal testicular descent (TD) is known to be a complex, multistage process involving the interplay of different anatomical structures, hormones, environmental and genetic factors, but its purpose and the exact etiology of TD impairment remain largely unknown …
Erasmia Kiapekou, Dimitris Loutradis, Peter Drakakis, Evangelia Zapanti, George Mastorakos, Aristidis Antsaklis
Objective: A number of hormones and growth factors have been reported to affect the in vitro maturation of oocytes. Their exact effects on follicular growth and oocyte maturation and the mechanisms involved are still unclear. In the present study, we have investigated the effects of Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) …
Zvi Laron
Primary or secondary IGF1 deficiency has been implicated in shortening of lifespan. This paper reviews available data on the influence of IGF1 deficiency on lifespan and longevity in animals and man…
Anthony C. Hackney, Ashley Kallman, Karen P. Hosick, Daniela A. Rubin, Claudio L. Battaglini
OBJECTIVE: To compare the thyroid hormonal responses to high-intensity interval exercise (IE) and steady-state endurance exercise (SEE) in highly trained males (n=15). DESIGN: The IE session consisted of repeated periods of 90-seconds treadmill running at 100-110% …
Iraklis Perysinakis, Chrysanthi Aggeli, Gregory Kaltsas, George N. Zografos
OBJECTIVE: Complete surgical resection is the only potentially curative treatment of localized pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of these patients present with unresectable locally advanced tumors or massive metastatic disease. Recently, a new therapeutic approach for this subset of patients has emerged consisting of neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgical exploration in responders …
Salvatore Alesci, Ioannis Ilias, Emmanuil Souvatzoglou, Alan G. Harris, Philip W. Gold, Alejandro R. Ayala, George P. Chrousos
The standard intravenous short Synacthen® test (SSST) has long been accepted as one of the most reliable diagnostic tests of adrenocortical insufficiency. Intramuscular (i.m.) administration of ACTH obviates the need of venous cannulation and can be used as an alternative to the intravenous test …
Melpomeni Peppa, Jaime Uribarri, Helen Vlassara
Aging and related diseases are accompanied by increased Oxidative Stress (OS) and accumulation of Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). One important component of AGEs accumulation with aging appears to be the sustained exposure to dietary AGE (dAGEs), which contributes to overloading of anti-AGE receptors and depletion of anti-oxidant reserves …
Victoria Salem, Thomas G. Hopkins, Heba El-Gayar, Sagen Zac-Varghese, Anthony P. Goldstone, Jeannie F. Todd, Waljit Dhillo, Benjamin C.T. Field, Niamh Martin, Emma Hatfield, Mandy Donaldson, Fausto Palazzo, Karim Meeran, James Jackson, Tricia Tan
CONTEXT: Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is recommended in all patients with hyperaldosteronism to whom surgery would be offered if the results indicated unilateral hypersecretion. OBJECTIVE: To assess the performance of AVS against radiological findings …
Laura Mihalache, Andreea Gherasim, Otilia Niță, Maria Christina Ungureanu, Sergiu Serghei Pădureanu, Radu Sebastian Gavril, Lidia Iuliana Arhire
Ghrelin is a gut peptide composed of 28 amino acids mostly secreted in the gastric fundus mucosa. It was isolated and described in 1999 by Kojima et al. and only three years later its specific receptor, GHSR1a, was also identified. Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand for the GH secretagogue receptor, is the only peripheral orexigenic hormone that activates the receptors to be found especially in the appetite center (hypothalamus and pituitary gland) …
Leonidas H Duntas, Constantinos Parisis
The aim of this review is to provide an update on drug abuse by athletes, their mode of action and the technical difficulties of detection. The most common doping agents are the anabolic steroids (AS), testosterone derivatives modified to take advantage of the anabolic rather than the androgenic properties of the hormone…
Angeliki Galani, Sophia Kitsiou-Tzeli, Christalena Sofokleous, Emmanuel Kanavakis, Ariadni Kalpini-Mavrou
The end-organ resistance to androgens has been designated as Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), an X-linked disorder caused by mutations in the Androgen Receptor (AR) gene. It is generally accepted that defects in the AR gene prevent the normal development of both internal and external genital structures in 46,XY individuals …
Kalliopi Pazaitou-Panayiotou, Eva Tiensuu Janson, Triantafyllia Koletsa, Vassiliki Kotoula, Mats Stridsberg, Georgios Karkavelas, Georgia Karayannopoulou
OBJECTIVE: Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is dependent upon binding of radiolabelled peptides to their respective receptor expressing cells. The main objective of this study was to characterize the expression of somatostatin receptor (SSTR) subtypes in non-medullary thyroid …