Goran Cvijovic, Dragan Micic, Aleksandra Kendereski, Svetlana Zoric, Mirjana Sumarac-Dumanovic, Svetislav Tatic, Aleksandar Trivic, Danica Pejkovic-Stamenkovic, Danka Jeremic
OBJECTIVE: Serum calcitonin (CT) is a sensitive but not specific marker for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). There are a large number of conditions that may elevate CT levels. CASE REPORT: Herein we present the case of a 47-year old woman with Hashimoto thyroiditis …
Nese Ozbey, Altay Sencer, Sinan Tanyolac, Ramazan Kurt, Serra Sencer, Bilge Bilgic, Inan Turantan, Senay Molvalilar
A patient with an intrasellar germinoma leading to pituitary stalk thickening is reported. The patient, a 24-year old woman, presented with hyperprolactinemia, secondary hypothyroidism, and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with no evidence of diabetes insipidus. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination revealed an increased number of lymphocytes and histiocytes…
Roland Gärtner, Petra Rank, Birgit Ander
OBJECTIVE: As we previously demonstrated, the inhibitory effect of iodine on thyroid cell growth is mediated by iodolactones, especially 6-iodo-5-hydroxy-eicosatrienoic acid (δ-iodolactone). In this communication we compare the effect of iodide, molecular iodine and δ-iodolactone on growth inhibition and apoptosis on three human thyroid carcinoma cell lines …
Carlo Cappelli, Mario Rotondi, Ilenia Pirola, Barbara Agosti, Ana Maria Formenti, Pasquale De Cata, Massimo Salvetti, Luca Chiovato, Maurizio Castellano
OBJECTIVE: Metformin treatment may induce a decrease/suppression in serum TSH levels, mimicking sub-clinical hyperthyroidism (SHT). The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate changes in several electrocardiographic indices in euthyroid subjects with diabetes who, after starting metformin treatment …
Maria Maniati-Christidis, Fotini Psychou, Claire Nihoul-Fekete
A female infant with persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia is described. Persistent euglycemia could not be achieved by diazoxide, somatostatin and frequent, low protein feeds. Preoperative localization of focal insulin hypersecretion by percutaneous pancreatic venous sampling allowed excision of only a small pancreatic portion which was followed by normalization of blood glucose levels …
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) …
Rene Chee, Ravin Agah, Roberto Vita, Salvatore Benvenga
OBJECTIVE: To report a case of vaccine-induced Graves’ disease successfully managed with L-carnitine and propranolol and without antithyroid drugs (ATDs). ATDs sometimes need to be used at low doses or can be contraindicated/refused. One of the ancillary compounds available is L-carnitine …
A. Mortoglou, H. Candiloros
In order to examine the significance of differences in the triiodothyronine/thyroxine (T3/T4) ratio in the achievement of euthyroidism and in different thyroidal diseases, we studied 1050 subjects: 233 were euthyroid (Eu), 239 hypothyroid (Hypo) with initial TSH levels >15 mU/L, 273 hypothyroid on substitution therapy with L-thyroxine alone and TSH values of 0.35-3.5 mU/L, (hypoRx), 236 hyperthyroid (hyper) and 69 …
Sibel Ertek, Arrigo FG Cicero, Oya Caglar, Gurbuz Erdogan
OBJECTIVE: Zinc is essential for many biochemical processes and also for cell proliferation. Thyroid hormones influence zinc metabolism by affecting zinc absorption and excretion. Additionally, zinc deficiency affects thyroid function. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a possible association of zinc levels with thyroid volume …
Silvano Bertelloni, Eleonora Dati, Angelo Valetto, Veronica Bertini, Alfredo Danti, Giampiero I. Baroncelli
BACKGROUND: Mixed gonadal dysgenesis (MGD) is a rare disorder. Short stature is a well known feature of this condition. Although growth hormone (GH) treatment has been suggested to treat growth impairment, conflicting data surround this issue …
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 …
Salvatore Maria Corsello, Rosa Maria Paragliola, Pietro Locantore, Francesca Ingraudo, Maria Pia Ricciato, Carlo Antonio Rota, Paola Senes, Alfredo Pontecorvi
Zoledronic acid is a newly FDA-approved bisphosphonate for the treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy. Although the safety and efficacy of this drug in treating hypercalcemia associated with hyperparathyroidism have not yet been established in clinically controlled trials, its off-label use is not uncommon …
Ahmet Anık, Gönül Çatlı, Ayhan Abacı, Handan Güleryüz, Çağdaş Güdücü, Adile Öniz, Şule Can, Bumin Dündar, Ece Böber
OBJECTIVE: Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder with the distinctive features of hyposmia or anosmia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Though hyposmia/anosmia can be evaluated by both objective and subjective smell tests, there is no study comparing these two methods in KS …
Theano D. Kontopoulou, Spyros G. Marketos
A century has passed (1902 – 2002) since the Danish botanist and geneticist Wilhelm Ludwig Johannsen established the scientific term “gene”. The centenary of this biological term coincides with the 50th anniversary of the unraveling of the structure of DNA, the basic molecule of heredity …
Maria I. Kalliora, Andriani Vazeou, Dimitrios Delis, Evangelos Bozas, Ioanna Thymelli, Christos S. Bartsocas
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the seasonal variation of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) diagnosis in Greek children. DESIGN: The study group consisted of 1148 patients (604 males and 544 females) who were diagnosed with T1DM during the period 1978-2008. The mean age at diagnosis was 8.32±5.01 years …
Maria Hassapidou, Efstratia Daskalou, Fotini Tsofliou, Konstantinos Tziomalos, Anastasia Paschaleri, Ioannis Pagkalos, Themistoklis Tzotzas
OBJECTIVE: Data on obesity in preschoolers are scarce in Greece, a country particularly affected by the obesity epidemic. The present study aimed to assess overweight and obesity prevalence of preschoolers in Thessaloniki, Greece, by using three different standards for defining childhood overweight and obesity …
Dimitris Loutradis, Konstantinos Stefanidis, Erasmia Kiapekou, Evangelia Zapanti, Chrisoula Panitsa-Faflia, Aristidis Antsaklis
BACKGROUND: Diethylstilboestrol (DES) exposure in-utero has been shown to have negative effects on pregnancy. DES-exposed women are at increased risk of early spontaneous pregnancy loss, ectopic gestation and infertility. DESIGN: A 34-year old woman with a 6-year history of primary infertility is presented. The patient underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment without success…
Amir H. Sam, Tricia Tan, Karim Meeran
Patients with acromegaly have characteristic clinical features caused by soft tissue overgrowth. The most common cause of acromegaly is a growth hormone-secreting adenoma of the anterior pituitary. Both somatic and metabolic features of acromegaly are due to excess growth hormone (GH) secretion and high serum concentrations …
Costas Koufaris, Angelos Alexandrou, Carolina Sismani, Nicos Skordis
Familial neurohypophyseal diabetes insipidus (FNDI) is a disorder characterized by excess excretion of diluted urine (polyuria) and increased uptake of fluids (polydipsia). The disorder is caused by mutations affecting the AVP-NPII gene, resulting in absent or deficient secretion of the antidiuretic hormone arginine vasopressin …
Caliope Alevizaki, Michael Molfetas, Alexandros Samartzis, Barbara Vlassopoulou, Charalambos Vassilopoulos, Phoedi Rondogianni, Sofia Kottou, Valsamis Hadjiconstantinou, Maria Alevizaki
BACKGROUND: Iodine 131 ablation following total thyroidectomy is considered an indispensable element of successful treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (Dtc). because of the essential role of the kidneys in iodine clearance, 131I therapy of Dtc in patients with end stage renal disease, particularly those maintained on haemodialysis …
Laszlo G. Jozsa
Photos and/or copies of one hundred Upper Paleolithic (45,000-40,000 to 10,000 BP) statues were studied, the photos having been taken from the frontal, lateral and back view. Among the 97 female idols studied, 24 were skinny (mainly young women), 15 were of normal weight, while more than half of them (51) represented overweight or very obese females whose breasts were also extremely large …
Maryam Nasiri Aghdam, Mohammad Reza Abbaszadegan, Alireza Tafazoli, Mohammad Aslzare, Zohreh Mosavi
PURPOSE: Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 2A (MEN2A) is a complex autosomal dominant inherited syndrome characterized by medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), pheochromocytoma and primary parathyroid hyperplasia. In patients with only one or two clinical features, identification of a germ line RET (REarranged in Transfection) mutation is required to make the diagnosis and initiate genetic counseling. METHODS: We analyzed blood DNA from three Iranian families with three generations …
Zuleyha Karaca, Fatih Tanriverdi, Selim Kurtoglu, Serife Tokalioglu, Kursad Unluhizarci, Fahrettin Kelestimur
The Prasad S yndrome is characterized by iron deficiency anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, skin changes, hypogonadism, dwarfism and geophagia. Hypogonadism is a major manifestation of zinc (Zn) deficiency in both humans and animals. T he mechanism of hypogonadism caused by Zn deficiency has not been clarified…
Antonis Polymeris, Peter D. Papapetrou, Fotini Papandroulaki, Stavroula Thanou
OBJECTIVE: Previous studies showed that insulin stimulated directly calcitonin (Ct) secretion in the pig thyroid, while dexamethasone stimulated the production of Ct and Ct mRNA in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) cell lines. The objective of this study was to investigate if hyperinsulinemia during the oral glucose tolerance test …
George Kontogeorgos, Eleni Thodou
OBJECTIVE: The term “null cell” adenoma was first proposed in 1980 to designate pituitary adenomas lacking clinical, biochemical and morphological markers to disclose their cell origin. DESIGN: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of α- and β-gonadotropin subunits in clinically nonfunctioning pituitary tumors …