Katerina Saltiki, Maria Alevizaki
Coronary heart disease is the main cause of death in women. Women during reproductive years are at lower risk for coronary heart disease than men but this difference tends to disappear after the menopause. In this article, we briefly review the clinical and experimental data which highlight the protective role of endogenous estrogens in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease …
Stergios A. Polyzos, Marina Kita, Avraam Avramidis
Thyroid nodules are common in clinical practice. They may be solitary within a “normal” thyroid gland or dominant within a multinodular goiter. The incidence of thyroid nodules has been on the rise in recent decades, mainly due to the wider use of neck imaging. Therefore, the incidental finding of a thyroid nodule in an asymptomatic patient is not rare…
Markus Luster, Michael Lassmann, Lutz S. Freudenberg, Christoph Reiners
Thyroid cancer, although very rare in childhood, represents the most common pediatric endocrine neoplasia. The low incidence and the resulting limited availability of prospective, randomized trials lead to a lack of evidence- based recommendations for treatment strategies. Total thyroidectomy and lymphadenectomy …
Maria P. Yavropoulou, John G. Yovos
Wnts are a large family of proteins that participate in an array of cellular biological processes such as embryogenesis, organogenesis and tumor formation. These proteins bind to membrane receptor complexes comprised of a frizzled (Fz) G-protein-coupled receptor and other membrane co-receptors forming molecular groups that initiate, at least …
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 …
Wilmar M. Wiersinga
Thyroid nodules in childhood and adolescence are less prevalent but more often malignant than in adulthood. Malignant nodules are predominantly papillary cancers; benign nodules are mostly solid colloid nodules/adenomas, but can be cystic or due lymphocytic thyroiditis…
Georgios Efstratiadis, Konstantinos Koskinas, Efstathios Pagourelias
Cardiovascular mortality is significantly increased among patients with end-stage renal disease. The commonly observed vascular calcification in such patients has been considered as one of the causative factors. In patients undergoing dialysis, the incidence of coronary artery calcification is 2-5 times higher compared to patients with normal renal function and angiographically demonstrated coronary artery disease…
Gemma Sesmilo, Irene Halperin, Manuel Puig-Domingo
Brain injury (BI), both head trauma (TBI) and subarachnoid hemorrage (SAH), has consistently been recognized as an important cause of pituitary dysfunction.1 Different studies have estimated that 20-50% of patients who have suffered BI will develop some degree of hypopituitarism.1-9 The high incidence of BI ranks it as potentially the most important cause of hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction…
Charilaos Stylianou, Assimina Galli-Tsinopoulou, Dimitrios Farmakiotis, Israel Rousso, Michael Karamouzis, George Koliakos, Sanda Nousia-Arvanitakis
OBJECTIVE: Ghrelin and leptin levels are influenced by body fat (BF%), pubertal stage and possibly insulin resistance (IR). The aim of our study was: 1) To compare fasting ghrelin and leptin levels between obese and non-obese, adolescents, 2) to investigate possible correlations of these hormones with BF %, as well as IR…
Jivka T. Ivanova, Polet B. Doukova, Mihail A. Boyanov, Plamen R. Popivanov
OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study was to search for a possible association of low bone mineral density (bMD) with the PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms of the estrogen receptor (Er) gene in bulgarian women. DESIGN: 400 bulgarian women participated in this study. bMD was mea-sured at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and at the distal forearm. two groups were identified …
Barbara Jarzab, Daria Handkiewicz-Junak
Differentiated thyroid cancer (Dtc) is a rare disease, especially in children. Differences in the biology and clinical course of Dtc in children, when compared with adults, may be related both to pathogenesis as well as to clinical outcome of the disease. In childhood, the thyroid gland exhibits higher susceptibility to the carcinogenetic …
Eleni Kousta, Natasha J. Lawrence, Ian F. Godsland, Anna Penny, Victor Anyaoku, Barbara A. Millauer, Stephen Robinson, Desmond G. Johnston, Mark I. McCarthy
OBJECTIVE: To characterise early metabolic abnormalities and the impact of ethnicity following gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). DESIGN: Women with a history of GDM belonging to three different ethnic groups were evaluated. Using the insulin-modified, frequently-sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT) and HOMA we studied 34 European …
Massimo Giusti, Francesca Cecoli, Carla Ghiara, Alessandro Rubinacci, Isabella Villa, Domenico Cavallero, Laura Mazzuoli, Michele Mussap, Roberto Lanzi, Francesco Minuto
OBJECTIVE: Some extra-thyroid actions of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), such as an in vitro action on bone, have been described. Our aim was to evaluate in vivo the acute effect of a recombinant human TSH (rhTSH)-induced TSH surge on Osteoprotegerin (OPG) and receptor activator of the nuclear factor-κB (RANK-L) levels in patients under levo-thyroxine (L-T4) therapy…
Emmanuel Varverakis, Evaggelos Neonakis, Maria Tzardi, Emmanuel Chrysos
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of color flow Doppler (CFD) sonography in the preoperative management of benign and malignant cold thyroid nodules. DESIGN: Eighty-five patients with a cold thyroid nodule larger than 1cm were examined with CFD sonography prior to thyroidectomy. The histological examination revealed that 18 (21%) patients had malignant nodules …
Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis, Charikleia D. Christakou, Eleni Kandaraki, Krystallenia I. Alexandraki
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a heterogenous syndrome of unknown causation commonly associated with obesity. Τhe particular timing of the onset of obesity may be important, since the earlier the onset of obesity the greater the severity of the metabolic and hormonal aberrations …
Kyratsoula Pantsiotou
OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal data on boys’ puberty evolution are not available in Greece and very few such studies have been reported world-wide. We present data from a longitudinal study on height, weight, BMI and age at the different pubertal stages in Greek boys. DESIGN: At the start of the study 204 prepubertal boys aged 8-10 years …
Evangelos Karanikas, Faidon Harsoulis, Ioannis Giouzepas, Ioannis Griveas
OBJECTIVE: Psychocutaneous diseases constitute a large proportion of psychosomatic disorders, with psoriasis being one of the most typical cases. Though alteration of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis function has been suggested as underlying several psychiatric disorders and psychosomatic diseases, there is little evidence of reduced response of the HPA axis in psoriasis after psychosocially …
George Vlotides, Roland Gaertner, Matthias W.A. Angstwurm
OBJECTIVE: Modulatory effects of estrogens on both the immune and the coagulation system are only partially understood. In severe infections high estrogen levels have been observed both in men and postmenopausal women and are associated with increased mortality. Monocyte-derived tissue factor (TF) expression can activate the coagulation system and worsen the course of severe infection…
Ioannis Ilias, Konstantinos Stamoulis, Apostolos Armaganidis, Panagiotis Lyberopoulos, Marinella Tzanela, Stylianos Orfanos, Maria Theodorakopoulou, Stylianos Tsagarakis, Ioanna Dimopoulou
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether tentative prognostic models for intensive care unit survival of multiple trauma patients could be improved by including endocrine parameters. DESIGN: Prospective study. Patients: Eighty-three male and 11 female multiple trauma patients…
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…
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…
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 …
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 …
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 …