Pavlos Poulakos, Gesthimani Mintziori, Efrosini Tsirou, Eleftheria Taousani, Dimitra Savvaki, Vikentia Harizopoulou, Dimitrios G. Goulis
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a topic of major interest, as it affects up to 16% of pregnant women and may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, which, however, are preventable by appropriate treatment. The aim of the present study was to discuss basic concepts and to critically appraise recent updates on practical issues …
Atieh Amouzegar, Ladan Mehran, Farzaneh Sarvghadi, Hossein Delshad, Fereidoun Azizi, John H. Lazarus
Thyroid hormones play a critical role in neurodevelopment both during pregnancy and postnatally. The fetal thyroid produces sufficient amounts of thyroid hormones just after 16 weeks of pregnancy prior to which the fetus is totally dependent on maternal FT4 for its physical and neural development …
Vera Popovic, Felipe F. Casanueva
Recent data suggest that in addition to leptin’s role in conveying signals of the amount of energy stores to the central nervous system, this adipocyte secreted hormone interacts with the endocrine system to provide critical information about the size of fat stores, acting as a permissive factor that allows the triggering of energy demanding situations …
Natalia Sirimi, Dimitrios G. Goulis
Obesity, the most common metabolic disorder, concerns, among others, women of reproductive age and, when it occurs before or during pregnancy, constitutes a major risk factor for both maternal and fetal complications. The complications of obesity in a prospective mother include subfertility, miscarriage, thrombo-embolism, hypertensive disorders …
Gerasimos Krassas, Spyridon N. Karras, Nikolaos Pontikides
The most common thyroid diseases during pregnancy are hyper- and hypothyroidism and their variants including isolated hypothyroxinemia (hypo-T4), autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and different types of goiter. AITD represents the main cause of hypothyroidism during pregnancy ranging in prevalence between 5 and 20% …
Spyridon N. Karras, Panagiotis Anagnostis, Andrea Petroczi, Cedric Annweiler, Declan P. Naughton, Dimitrios G. Goulis
Maternal hypovitaminosis D during pregnancy has been associated with a wide spectrum of adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes, some manifesting stronger associations than others. Research in this field has entered the “era of systematic data evaluation” via the conducting of a series of meta-analyses in an attempt to synthesize …
Alexandra Chrisoulidou, Maria Boudina, Niki Karavitaki, Eleni Bili, John Wass
The pituitary gland is significantly affected during gestation in terms of both size and function. Due to this physiologic adaptation, endocrine evaluation and interpretation of imaging is far more complex than in the non-pregnant state. Pituitary disorders are rare in pregnancy, as they are usually associated with gonadal dysfunction …
Stathopoulos P. Ioannis, Liakou G. Chrysoula, Katsalira Aikaterini, Trovas George, Lyritis P. George, Papaioannou A. Nikolaos, Tournis Symeon
OBJECTIVE: The unique pharmacokinetics of bisphosphonates (BPs) in conjunction with their use by an increasing number of women at reproductive age has raised serious concerns about their safety during pregnancy and lactation. Bisphosphonates cross the placenta. Animal studies have shown adverse effects on both the fetus and the mother …
Eftychia Koukkou, Stavros Kravaritis, Irene Mamali, Georgios G. Markantes, Marina Michalaki, Georgios G. Adonakis, Neoklis A. Georgopoulos, Kostas B. Markou
OBJECTIVE: Adequate dietary iodine intake is necessary for normal thyroid gland function at all times, and most particularly during pregnancy. Increased iodine loss is cited, among other factors, as responsible for the increased iodine demand in this period. Our aim was to compare renal iodine excretion between …
Peter D. Papapetrou
OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between circulating 25(OH)D, 1,25(OH)2D, and 24,25(OH)2D in pregnancy at term, and to test the hypothesis that serum 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH)2D are repressed by high serum 1,25(OH)2D levels …
Eleftheria Taousani, Dimitra Savvaki, Efrosini Tsirou, Pavlos Poulakos, Gesthimani Mintziori, Menelaos Zafrakas, Basil C. Tarlatzis, Dimitrios Vavilis, Dimitrios G. Goulis
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is one of the major components of total energy expenditure (TEE). It is affected by various factors, such as body weight, body composition, age, race/ethnicity, gender, biochemical parameters, physical activity, and health status. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most common metabolic disorder during pregnancy and it increases the risk for health complications …
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 …
Fabio Rotondo, Angelo Rotondo, Mark Jentoft, Bernd W. Scheithauer, Luis V. Syro, Jorge H. Donado, James E. Tarara, Kalman Kovacs
OBJECTIVE: In pregnant women, the pituitary is enlarged and the prolactin (PRL) secreting cells increase in size and number. This PRL cell hyperplasia is associated with hyperprolactinemia. The aim of the present work was to investigate adenohypophysial vascularization and immunoexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor …
Marina Kita, Maria Sakalidou, Athanasios Saratzis, Sarris Ioannis, Avraam Avramides
Cushing’s syndrome (CS) during pregnancy is a rare nosology with only a few cases reported in the literature. Misdiagnosis is common, as the syndrome may be easily confused with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes. CS during pregnancy is usually associated with severe maternal and fetal complications..
Masao Jinno, Kenichi Kondou, Koji Teruya
OBJECTIVE: Insulin resistance is associated with aging and stress, both common among patients repeatedly failing to conceive with in vitro fertilization (IVF repeaters). In the present study we examined whether low-dose metformin could improve the outcome in IVF repeaters without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) …
Afif Nakhleh, Leonard Saiegh, Maria Reut, Mohammad Sheikh Ahmad, Irit Wirsansky Pearl, Carmela Shechner
OBJECTIVE: Cushing`s disease during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for maternal and fetal complications. In recurrent Cushing`s disease following transsphenoidal surgery, and when re-operation is not feasible, medical treatment is usually considered. Cabergoline was found to be effective in reducing hypercortisolism in Cushing’s disease …
Luciana Parlea, Lisa Fahim, David Munoz, Amir Hanna, Jennifer Anderson, Michael Cusimano, Kalman Kovacs, Geoffrey Gardiner
Distant metastases as initial presentation of follicular carcinoma of the thyroid is rare, especially in young patients. We report the clinical and pathological features of a 33-year old pregnant patient with follicular carcinoma of the thyroid who presented with widespread bone and lung metastases at the time of diagnosis…
Shutan Liao, Mark H. Vickers, Rennae S. Taylor, Mhoyra Fraser, Lesley M.E. McCowan, Philip N. Baker, Jo K. Perry
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether maternal serum concentrations of placental growth hormone (GH-V), insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 1 and 2, and IGF binding proteins (IGFBP) 1 and 3 were altered in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHOD: In a nested case-control study, GDM cases (n=28) and matched controls (n=28) were selected from the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) biobank in Auckland, New Zealand …
Kalliopi Lampropoulou-Adamidou, George Trovas, Ioannis P. Stathopoulos, Nikolaos A. Papaioannou
OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy- and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO) is an uncommon disease. The majority of cases are seen in the third trimester or early post-partum in primagravid women and the prominent clinical feature of PLO is severe and prolonged back pain and height loss. The prevalence and aetiology of this disorder …