Retha R. Newbold
Environmental chemicals with hormone-like activity can disrupt programming of endocrine signaling pathways during development and result in adverse effects, some of which may not be apparent until much later in life. Recent reports link exposure to environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals during development with adverse health consequences …
George N. Zografos, Iraklis Perysinakis, Evangeline Vassilatou
Clinically inapparent adrenal masses which are incidentally detected have become a common problem in everyday practice. Approximately 5-20% of adrenal incidentalomas present subclinical cortisol hypersecretion which is characterized by subtle alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal …
Evagelos N Liberopoulos, Moses S Elisaf
Thyroid disorders are known to influence lipid metabolism and are common in dyslipidemic patients. Overt and subclinical hypothyroidism have an adverse effect on the serum lipid profile that may predispose to the development of atherosclerotic disease. Although thyroid substitution therapy is beneficial for patients with overt hypothyroidism …
Petya Kamenova
BACKGROUND: Amelioration of insulin resistance could improve both glycaemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Alpha-lipoic acid has been shown to improve insulin action after parenteral administration. OBJECTIVE: the aim of the study was to assess the effect of oral administration of alpha-lipoic acid on insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes…
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 …
Maria P. Yavropoulou, Christos Xygonakis, Maria Lolou, Fotini Karadimou, John G. Yovos
Sclerosteosis and Van Buchem disease are two rare bone sclerosing disorders characterized by increased bone mineral density, tall stature and entrapment of cranial nerves due to overgrowth of a highly dense bone. Recent advances in human genetics have revealed the genetic background of these disorders …
Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis, Christina Piperi, Georgia Argyrakopoulou, Jiovanna Spina, Lambrini Papanastasiou, Angeliki Bergiele, Dimitrios Panidis
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex and heterogeneous disorder characterized by hyperandrogenemia, hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and chronic anovulation. It is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age with an enigmatic pathophysiologic and molecular basis. The high prevalence of affected …
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 …
Arash Babaei, Sayyed Hamid Zarkesh-Esfahani, Ehsan Bahrami, Richard J. Ross
Leptin, the adipocyte derived hormone, has a pivotal role in regulating energy homeostasis and appetite. Beyond this essential role in bodyweight control, leptin also regulates the immune responses. Leptin has pro-inflammatory effects on T cell populations, shifting the T helper balance towards a TH1 phenotype, through induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulation …
Sotirios Maipas, Polyxeni Nicolopoulou-Stamati
Ultraviolet solar radiation is a well-known environmental health risk factor and the use of sun lotions is encouraged to achieve protection mainly from skin cancer. Sun lotions are cosmetic commercial products that combine active and inactive ingredients and many of these are associated with health problems …
Konstantinos Ziambaras, Roberto Civitelli, Stathis S. Papavasiliou
As human beings venture into space in the 21st century, they will be confronted with a “hypodynamic” and thus hostile environment for the bone homeostasis, that could potentially compromise their mobility in general and skeletal strength in particular after landing. From this point of view, space flight studies are especially interesting and intriguing models for scientists…
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…
Nikolaos D. Roupas, Neoklis A. Georgopoulos
OBJECTIVE: To highlight the recent developments in the field of menstrual function in sports and to provide an overview of our current understanding in regard to the pathophysiology, evaluation and management strategies of exercise-related reproductive dysfunction …
Evangelia Kintiraki, Sophia Papakatsika, George Kotronis, Dimitrios G. Goulis, Vasilios Kotsis
Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) complicates 6-10% of pregnancies. It is defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) >140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >90 mmHg. It is classified as mild (SBP 140-149 and DBP 90-99 mmHg), moderate (SBP 150-159 and DBP 100-109 mmHg) and severe (SBP ≥160 and DBP ≥110 mmHg) …
Marinella Tzanela, Marieta Christoforaki, Lida Papastathopoulou, Dimitra Vassiliadi, Effie Botoula, Panagiotis Trivizas, Nikos C. Thalassinos
Objective: Post-treatment monitoring of acromegalic patients is a matter of controversy, as discrepancies between GH and IGF-I levels have been reported. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of acid-labile subunit (ALS), a component of the 150 kD IGF-I/IGFBP-3/ALS complex, and the growth hormone binding protein (GHBP) in the follow-up of patients with acromegaly after therapeutic intervention…
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…
Alexandra Bargiota, Konstantinos Dimitropoulos, Vassilios Tzortzis,, Georgios N. Koukoulis
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common disease worldwide and a growing public health burden. The number of people with diabetes is increasing due to population growth, aging, urbanization, and increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. Diabetes is known to cause multiple medical …
Georgios A. Christou, Dimitrios N. Kiortsis
OBJECTIVE: The combination of 32 mg naltrexone and 360 mg bupropion prolonged release (NB32) was recently approved by both the food and drug administration (FDA) and the European medicines agency (EMA) as an adjunct to a comprehensive lifestyle intervention to achieve weight loss …
Dafni-Kalliopi Papafragkaki, George Tolis
Obesity is one of the most frequently encountered medical problems of our time. Among the complications of this pathologic entity, renal disease is an important issue and its pathophysiologic mechanisms are a challenge for the physician, since a variety of etiologic factors are implicated in its genesis. For example, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance …
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 …
Nasiru Akamnu Ibrahim, Idowu Olusegun Fadeyibi
Ectopic thyroid refers to the presence of thyroid tissue in locations other than the normal anterior neck region between the second and fourth tracheal cartilages. It is the most frequent form of thyroid dysgenesis, accounting for 48-61% of the cases.1 Prevalence of this condition is reported to be between 1 per 100,000-300,000 persons …
Paschalia K. Iliadou, Christos Tsametis, Athina Kaprara, Ioannis Papadimas, Dimitrios G. Goulis
The Sertoli cell is important for endocrine and paracrine control of spermatogenesis. Functions attributed to Sertoli cells are: (1) supportive and trophic functions for the cells of the seminiferous epithelium, (2) transport of mature spermatids towards the lumen of seminiferous tubules, (3) secretion of androgen binding protein …
Niki Karavitaki, John AH Wass
Acromegaly, a multisystemic disease resulting from excessive growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels in adults, is associated with a two-to-threefold increase in mortality. The available treatment options (surgery, radiotherapy and medical treatment with somatostatin analogues or dopamine agonists) fail to achieve the currently accepted goals of therapy in a substantial number of patients …
Andrzej Bartke, Michael Bonkowski, Michal Masternak
In laboratory mice, suppression of growth hormone (GH) signaling by spontaneous mutations or targeted disruption of GH- or IGF1-related genes can lead to an impressive increase of longevity…
Predrag Miljic, Dragana Miljic, Joshua William Cain, Márta Korbonits, Vera Popovic
Chronic exposure to high glucocorticoid levels in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is often associated with alterations in the hemostatic system and the expression of prothrombotic phenotypes. Increased frequency of both atherothrombotic and venous thromboembolic events (VTE) has been reported in patients with CS …