[Clinical and laboratory characteristics and results of treatment of patients with ACTH-producing neuroendocrine tumors of various localization].

Aim: To study the clinical, biochemical characteristics, treatment results and follow-up of patients with ectopic ACTH syndrome EAS (ACTH adrenocorticotropic hormone ).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective, observational, single-center study of 130 patients with EAS. Demographic information of patients, medical history, results of laboratory and instrumental investigations at the pre- and postoperative stages and follow-up of EAS were analyzed.

Comparative Analysis of Clinical, Hormonal and Morphological Studies in Patients with Neuroendocrine ACTH-Producing Tumours.

This paper highlights the problem of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) with clinical symptoms of hypercorticism caused by hypersecretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by tumour cells. In most cases (85%), the tumours were localized in the pituitary gland (Cushing's disease); 15% of the patients had an extrapituitary tumour that manifest as an ectopic ACTH secretion (EAS). Comparative analysis of clinical, hormonal, histological, and immunohistochemical characteristics of pituitary and extrapituitary ACTH-secreting NET was performed.

The response of corticotropin and adrenal steroids to desmopressin stimulation in patients with various forms of hypercortisolism.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the direct action of desmopressin (agonist of vasopressin) on the hypophysis and the three zones of the adrenal cortex in patients with different forms of hypercortisolism.

Design: Forty-three patients with hypercortisolism-21 with Cushing's disease (14 females, 7 males), 11 with extrapituitary, ectopic tumours (5 females, 6 males), and 11 with ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome (6 females, 5 males)-were evaluated. The response of the pituitary and adrenal glands was assessed by measuring plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, aldosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) at baseline and at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after the administration of desmopressin.

[Efficacy and safety of bivalos therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Results of Russian multicenter trial].

Aim: To study effects of one-year therapy with bivalos on mineral bone density (MBD) of the spine in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO), effects of bivalos (strontium ranelate) on MBD of the neck of the femur and femur, the levels of bone metabolism markers, quality of life, tolerance of long-term therapy.

Material And Methods: The study was made of 60 females aged 54-75 years with PMO. MBD was measured with x-ray absorptiometry in the vertebra and proximal femur.

[Drug treatment for acromegaly: results of long-term use of Sandostatin LAR].

То evaluate the effectiveness and safety of drug treatment for acromegaly, the authors conducted an open-labeled prospective study of the impact of treatment with long-acting octreotide Sandostatm LAR) on the content of growth hormone (GH) and IRF-1 and on the size of a pituitary tumor. The study covered 40 patients (28 females and 12 males) aged 21 to 65 years (median 45 years) who had active acromegaly; 4 (10%) patients were diagnosed as having pituitary microadenoma; 36 (90%) had pituitary macroadenoma. Twenty-four patients received no therapy; 16 patients had tumors after their ineffective removal.

[Early and late results of neurosurgical treatment with Itsenko-Cushing disease].

То study the efficiency of neurosurgical treatment of the Itsenko-Cushing disease (1CD), the authors analyzed the early and late results of adenomectomy in 99 patients (90 females and 9 males) with ICD. The diagnosis of ICD was verified on the basis of hormonal studies, functional tests, and the results of topic diagnosis. All the patients had an active stage of the disease and a pituitary tumor, as evidenced by magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI).

[Effect of desmopressin on the production of corticosteroids in patients with different forms of hypercorticism].

То investigate the direct effect of desmopressin (DP), a vasopressin agonist, on the adrenal cortex, the authors studied a response of the pituitary and all three adrenal cortical areas in patients with different forms ofhypercorticism (active stage): ACTH-dependent Itsenko-Cushing syndrome, ectopic ACTH-dependent syndrome, corticosteroma. The levels of ACTH, cortisol, dehydroepiandros-terone sulfate, and aldosterone were used to assess a response to DP 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after administration. There were several types of a response of corticosteroids to DP: 1) an increase in the level of ACTH and, subsequently, in the concentration of either all test steroids, one of the steroids, or two steroids in different combinations; 2) an elevation of the concentration of steroids in different combinations irrespective the response of ACTH to DP.

[The results of neurosurgical treatment in Itsenko-Cushing's disease].

Fifty three consecutive patients with Cushing's disease were operated on in the Neurosurgical Institute from 1987 to 1995. In all cases the diagnosis was based on clinical and laboratory data, as well as radiographic images. Ten patients with false-negative CT scans had MRI confirming the presence of microadenomas less than 5 mm in size.

[Diagnosis and surgical treatment of microcorticotropinomas].

Microsurgical selective removal of hypophyseal adenomas is more and more frequently used in the treatment of Itsenko-Cushing's disease of late. This permits complete cure of approximately 90% of the patients. Ten patients with this disease, induced by corticotropinoma, were observed.

[Changes in immunochemical properties of serum ferritin after its post-translation modification with glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus].

The paper is concerned with experimental and clinical problems. Posttranslation modification of ferritin with glucose has been shown to cause change of its immunochemical properties. Changes in iron metabolism and in the level of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c were noted in patients with different forms of diabetes mellitus.

[Dynamics of the content of immunoreactive insulin and sugar in the blood during tests with glucose, tolbutamide and leucine in patients with Cushing's syndrome].

This work was aimed at the study of reserve capacities of the insular apparatus of the pancreas during the glucose tolerance test, and the test with tolbutamide and leucine in patients with Itsenko-Cushing's disease. The mentioned patients showed an increase in the immunoreactive insulin (IRI) level on the fasting stomach and a fall of the regulatory capacities of the insular apparatus of the pancreas; this was expressed in a later and high increase in the IRI level during the tests.

[The concentration of 17-OHKS and glucose in the blood during the insulin test in patients with hypothalamo-hypophyseal diseases].

A study was made of the hypothalamo-hypophysio-adrenal gland interrelations during the insulin test in patients with Itsenko-Cushing disease, dyspituitrism of the puberto-juvenile period and diencephalic syndrome. The majority of the patients with Itsenko-Cushing disease displayed a reduction of insulin sensitivity, this being expressed in a delayed fall of the glucose level during the insulin test and the absence of any increase in the blood 17-OCS. An increased reaction of the hypothalamo-hypophysio-adrenal system to insulin hypoglycemia was observed in the patients with dyspituitrim of the puberto-juvenile period.