Paulina A. Essah, Kai I. Cheang, John E. Nestler
The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by chronic anovulation and hyperandrogenism, and is the most common cause of anovulatory infertility in developed countries1,2. Affected women suffer not only from infertility, but also from a high rate of early pregnancy loss, defined as miscarriage during the first trimester …
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 …
Neoklis A. Georgopoulos, Kostas B. Markou, Anastasia Theodoropoulou, George A. Vagenakis, Panagiotis Mylonas, Apostolos G. Vagenakis
The genetic potentials for growth can be fully expressed only under favourable environmental conditions. Excessive physical training may negatively affect growth, especially during puberty. Sports that require a strict control of energy input in the presence of a high energy output are of particular concern. In gymnastics, a different pattern in skeletal maturation was observed …
Kai I. Cheang, Paulina Essah, John E. Nestler
Current evidence suggests that insulin resistance contributes to the pathophysiologic features of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The observation that insulin resistance is a central feature of PCOS leads to studies of the insulin signaling system in this disorder. This article reviews the possible role of putative insulin mediators, inositolphosphoglycans (IPG) mediators, in PCOS. We will focus on how IPGs mediate (a) hyperandrogenism and (b) insulin sensitivity in this disorder…
Irini Dermitzaki, Christos Tsatsanis, Vassiliki-Ismini Alexaki, Elias Castanas, Andrew N. Margioris
Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) affects cytosolic calcium ion levels. The aim of the present work was to examine the role of protein kinase A (PKA)- and PKC-dependent signalling pathways in mediating the effect of CRH on calcium ion influx (from extra-cellular sources) and calcium ion mobilization (from intra-cellular stores)…
Polyzois Makras, Dimitris Papadogias, Grigoris Kaltsas, Nikolaos Kaklas, Georgios Piaditis
Growth without growth hormone (GH) has occasionally been described in patients with organic pituitary pathology, and even more rarely in patients with idiopathic pituitary hormone deficiency. The mechanism of growth without GH remains a mystery. We describe a 17-year old male who grew 38.5 cm in height over a 7-year period, despite the fact that he had established panhypopituitarism…
Menalaos L. Batrinos
Many ancients held various beliefs about the supernatural virtues of certain numbers. In ancient Greece, the school of Pythagoras (590 BC) taught the doctrine of the numerical essence of natural events. In accordance with this theory, the number 7 was considered a sacred number and thus vital to human life…
V. Leoutsakos
Goiter is very common in many parts of the world and was recognized long before the thyroid gland itself. Since prehistoric times, the visible outgrowths in the front of the neck have been objects of curiosity and study. Their nature, appearance, cause and treatment have long been the subject of thousands of reports …