The crossroad between autoimmune disorder, tissue remodeling and cancer of the thyroid: The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3).

Thyroid is at the crossroads of immune dysregulation, tissue remodeling and oncogenesis. Autoimmune disorders, nodular disease and cancer of the thyroid affect a large amount of general population, mainly women. We wondered if there could be a common factor behind three processes (immune dysregulation, tissue remodeling and oncogenesis) that frequently affect, sometimes coexisting, the thyroid gland.

Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Treated with Metformin: AME-MET Study - A Multicentric Real-world Study in Italy.

Aims: Metformin is the most widely used drug for the first-line treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but its use and schedule have been poorly investigated in elderly patients.

Methods: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional, multicentric study on metformin in T2DM outpatients older than 65 years who were taking the drug for at least 6 months and referred to Italian Endocrinology and Diabetology Services. The primary endpoint was daily metformin dose, and secondary endpoints were the correlations between metformin dose and age, comorbidities, and concomitant use of other drugs.

Serum negative autoimmune thyroiditis displays a milder clinical picture compared with classic Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Background: Despite high sensitivity of current assays for autoantibodies to thyroperoxidase (TPO) and to thyroglobulin (Tg), some hypothyroid patients still present with negative tests for circulating anti-thyroid Abs. These patients usually referred to as having seronegative autoimmune thyroiditis (seronegative CAT) have not been characterized, and definite proof that their clinical phenotype is similar to that of patients with classic chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) is lacking.

Objective: To compare the clinical phenotype of seronegative CAT (SN-CAT) and CAT as diagnosed according to a raised serum level of TSH with negative and positive tests for anti-thyroid Abs respectively.

A unique patient presenting with concomitant Klinefelter syndrome, Alport syndrome, and craniopharyngioma.

A 31-year-old Caucasian male was referred for panhypopituitarism resulting from a surgically removed craniopharyngioma. The patient had been previously submitted to kidney transplantation for end-stage renal disease from X-linked Alport syndrome (ATS). Subsequent quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated a 47,XXY karyotype consistent with Klinefelter syndrome (KS).

Graves'-like orbitopathy in a patient with chronic autoimmune pancreatitis.

Background: Graves' orbitopathy is an inflammatory orbital disease that represents the commonest extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves' disease. Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare inflammatory disease characterized by prominent lymphocytic infiltration and fibrosis of the pancreas causing organ dysfunction.

Summary: This report provides the first clinical description of severe Graves'-like orbitopathy occurring in association with AIP.

Interstitial laser photocoagulation for benign thyroid nodules: time to treat large nodules.

Background And Objective: Interstitial laser photocoagulation (ILP) is a new therapeutic option for the ablation of non-functioning and hyper-functioning benign thyroid nodules. Amelioration of the ablation procedure currently allows treating large nodules. Aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of ILP, performed according to a modified protocol of ablation, in patients with large functioning and non-functioning thyroid nodules and to identify the best parameters for predicting successful outcome in hyperthyroid patients.

Predictive role of the immunostaining pattern of immunofluorescence and the titers of antipituitary antibodies at presentation for the occurrence of autoimmune hypopituitarism in patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes over a five-year follow-up.

Context: Antipituitary antibodies (APA) are frequently present in patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome (APS).

Design: The aim was to evaluate the predictive value of APA for the occurrence of hypopituitarism. A total of 149 APA-positive and 50 APA-negative patients with APS and normal pituitary function were longitudinally studied for 5 yr.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid in surgical thyroid specimens of patients with thyroid diseases.

Background: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are ubiquitous compounds that may act as endocrine disruptors, neurotoxic agents, and fetal development perturbing substances and may also be carcinogenic, as recently demonstrated in experimental animal models. There is little information on the potential for these compounds to affect the thyroid. Therefore, this study was performed to measure the intrathyroidal levels of PFOA and PFOS in surgical specimens of thyroid glands and to determine if there was a relationship between the concentrations of these substances and the clinical, biochemical, and histologic phenotype of the patients from whom the thyroids were obtained.

Raised serum TSH levels in patients with morbid obesity: is it enough to diagnose subclinical hypothyroidism?

Objective: Morbid obesity (body mass index (BMI)> or =40 kg/m(2)) is associated with thyroid function disturbances, with a high rate of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) being the most consistently reported. We evaluated the circulating thyroid function parameters in morbid obese patients and related the results to the presence of circulating thyroid antibodies (Thyr-Ab).

Design And Methods: Morbid obese patients were consecutively enrolled (n=350).

The effect of pregnancy on subsequent relapse from Graves' disease after a successful course of antithyroid drug therapy.

Objective: Pregnancy and the postpartum (PP) period are associated with profound changes of the immune system, which largely influence the clinical activity of autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pregnancy and/or the PP period in driving a clinical relapse of hyperthyroidism in patients with Graves' disease (GD) who are in remission after antithyroid drug (ATD) treatment. Data were retrospectively collected from 150 female patients with GD, who were assigned to two groups according to the occurrence of a successful pregnancy after ATD withdrawal.

The post partum period and the onset of Graves' disease: an overestimated risk factor.

Objective: Aggravation of autoimmune diseases due to a rebound reaction to the pregnancy-associated immune changes is common during the post partum (PP) period. Previous studies demonstrated that up to 45% of women developing Graves' disease (GD) in the childbearing age had a PP onset of disease. Thus, the PP period was identified as a major risk factor for GD onset.