Diagnostic procedure in suspected Graves' disease.

Diagnostic procedure in suspected Graves' disease has never been studied scientifically and actual practice seems quite variable, notably between countries. Recommendations are few and weak (expert opinion). This article presents the recommendations of an expert consensus meeting organized by the French Society of Endocrinology in 2016.

Classification of Patients With GH Disorders May Vary According to the IGF-I Assay.

Context: Insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I) measurement is essential for the diagnosis and management of growth hormone (GH) disorders. However, patient classification may vary substantially according to the assay technique.

Objective: We compared individual patient data and classifications obtained with six different IGF-I assay kits in a group of patients with various GH disorders.

Thyroglobulin assay in fluids from lymph node fine needle-aspiration washout: influence of pre-analytical conditions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the pre-analytical factors contributing to uncertainty in thyroglobulin measurement in fluids from fine-needle aspiration (FNA) washout of cervical lymph nodes. We studied pre-analytical stability, in different conditions, of 41 samples prepared with concentrated solutions of thyroglobulin (FNA washout or certified standard) diluted in physiological saline solution or buffer containing 6% albumin. In this buffer, over time, no changes in thyroglobulin concentrations were observed in all storage conditions tested.

Reference Values for IGF-I Serum Concentrations: Comparison of Six Immunoassays.

Context: Measurement of IGF-I is essential for diagnosis and management of patients with disorders affecting the somatotropic axis. However, even when IGF-I kit manufacturers follow recent consensus guidelines, different kits can give very different results for a given sample.

Objectives: We sought to establish normative data for six IGF-I assay kits based on a large random sample of the French general adult population.

Prevalence and determinants of vitamin D deficiency in healthy French adults: the VARIETE study.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine considers that a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration >20 ng/mL corresponds to optimal vitamin D status in the general population.

Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and organophosphate pesticides, and markers of glucose metabolism at birth.

Background: Experimental evidence suggests that developmental exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POP) and to some non persistent pesticides may disrupt metabolic regulation of glucose metabolism and insulin secretion, and thereby contribute to the current epidemic of obesity and metabolic disorders. Quasi-experimental situations of undernutrition in utero have provided some information. However, the evidence in humans concerning the role of the prenatal environment in these disorders is contradictory, and little is known about long-term outcomes, such as type 2 diabetes, of prenatal exposure.

Serum PTH reference values established by an automated third-generation assay in vitamin D-replete subjects with normal renal function: consequences of diagnosing primary hyperparathyroidism and the classification of dialysis patients.

Objective: To determine parathyroid hormone (PTH) reference values in French healthy adults, taking into account serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), renal function, age, gender, and BMI.

Participants And Main Biological Measurements: We studied 898 healthy subjects (432 women) aged 18-89 years with a normal BMI and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), 81 patients with surgically proven primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), and 264 dialysis patients. 25OHD and third-generation PTH assays were implemented on the LIAISON XL platform.

Serum calcitriol concentrations measured with a new direct automated assay in a large population of adult healthy subjects and in various clinical situations.

The measurement of calcitriol [1,25(OH2)D], is important for the differential diagnosis of several disorders of calcium/phosphorus metabolism but is time-consuming and tricky. We measured serum calcitriol with a new automated direct assay on the Liaison XL platform in 888 healthy French Caucasian subjects aged 18-89 years, 32 patients with a surgically-proven PHPT, 32 pregnant women at the end of the first and at the end of the third trimester, and 24 dialysis patients before and after one year of supplementation with vitamin D3 or placebo. The mean calcitriol concentration (±SD) in the healthy population was 52.

Hypogonadism Associated with Cyp19a1 (Aromatase) Posttranscriptional Upregulation in Celf1 Knockout Mice.

CELF1 is a multifunctional RNA-binding protein that controls several aspects of RNA fate. The targeted disruption of the Celf1 gene in mice causes male infertility due to impaired spermiogenesis, the postmeiotic differentiation of male gametes. Here, we investigated the molecular reasons that underlie this testicular phenotype.

Biological and radiological exploration and management of non-functioning pituitary adenoma.

Non-functioning pituitary adenoma may be totally asymptomatic and discovered "incidentally" during radiological examination for some other indication, or else induce tumoral signs with compression of the optic chiasm and pituitary dysfunction. Non-functioning adenomas are mainly gonadotroph, but may also be "silent". Treatment strategy depends on initial clinical, biological, ophthalmological and radiological findings.

[TSH-receptor antibodies: immunoanalytical characteristics].

Besides the main biochemical characteristics of anti TSH-receptor antibodies, this paper points out the optimal conditions for their assays and the interpretation of results.

Perinatal exposure to chlordecone, thyroid hormone status and neurodevelopment in infants: the Timoun cohort study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: Perinatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may affect thyroid hormones homeostasis and impair brain development. Chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide widely used in the French West Indies has known estrogenic and progestin properties, but no data is available, human or animal, on its action on thyroid hormone system.

Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate the impact of perinatal exposure to chlordecone on the thyroid hormone system of a sample of infants from the Timoun mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe and their further neurodevelopment.

Neutralizing antibodies and fatigue as predictors of low response to interferon-beta treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The clinical impact of neutralizing antibodies against interferon-beta (NAb) is controversial. Their presence can lead to a decrease in interferon-beta (IFNβ) efficacy. Fatigue reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be associated with an unfavorable clinical course.

Fludrocortisone and hydrocortisone, alone or in combination, on in vivo hemodynamics and in vitro vascular reactivity in normal and endotoxemic rats: a randomized factorial design study.

Hydrocortisone enhances the pressor response to catecholamines in healthy volunteers and septic shock patients. Similar data do not exist for fludrocortisone. We assessed the effects of single administrations of fludrocortisone and hydrocortisone on systolic blood pressure until 2 hours after treatments injection and on in vitro vascular contraction of mesenteric artery rings to phenylephrine at 3 hours, in normal and endotoxemic rats.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone and free thyroxine on the ADVIA Centaur immunoassay system: a multicenter assessment of analytical performance.

Objectives: We assessed the analytical performance of the TSH and FT4 assays on ADVIA Centaur in a multicenter national evaluation.

Design And Methods: A precision study and a method comparison were performed. Reference values stated by the manufacturer were checked from 379 normal subjects.

Role of sex steroids, intrahepatic fat and liver enzymes in the association between SHBG and metabolic features.

Background: SHBG and liver enzymes levels are both associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. However, the relationship between SHBG with liver enzymes and intrahepatic fat content remain poorly understood.

Objective: To investigate whether SHBG is correlated with glucose and lipids levels and whether this association depends on fatty liver content, liver enzymes or sex hormone concentrations.

Should functional sensitivity of a new thyroid stimulating hormone immunoassay be monitored routinely? The ADVIA Centaur TSH3-UL assay experience.

Objectives: We emphasize the importance of routine follow-up of subnormal TSH concentrations with QC materials.

Design And Methods: The functional sensitivity (FS) of the ADVIA Centaur system TSH assay was assessed. We report the values yielded for QC materials in two clinical laboratories.

Associations between visceral adipose tissue, inflammation and sex steroid concentrations in men.

Context: In men, obesity and the metabolic syndrome are accompanied by decreased testosterone levels, but little is known about the associations between visceral adipose tissue (VAT), VAT-related inflammation and sex steroids.

Objective: To examine the relative impact of VAT, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), a marker of VAT-induced inflammation, on testosterone (T) and 17β-oestradiol (E2) levels in dysmetabolic men.

Methods: We study the NUMEVOX cohort of 229 men, aged 27-77 years, who all had at least one metabolic syndrome criterion (on average three).

DelK32-lamin A/C has abnormal location and induces incomplete tissue maturation and severe metabolic defects leading to premature death.

The LMNA gene encodes lamin A/C intermediate filaments that polymerize beneath the nuclear membrane, and are also found in the nucleoplasm in an uncharacterized assembly state. They are thought to have structural functions and regulatory roles in signaling pathways via interaction with transcription factors. Mutations in LMNA have been involved in numerous inherited human diseases, including severe congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD).

Early effects of erythropoietin on serum hepcidin and serum iron bioavailability in healthy volunteers.

Hepcidin regulates plasma iron bioavailability and subsequently iron availability for erythropoiesis. rHuEPO has been reported to decrease hepcidin expression in case of repeated subcutaneous injections. Thus, hepcidin level measurement could be a candidate marker for detection of rHuEPO abuse.

Liver iron overload is associated with elevated SHBG concentration and moderate hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism in dysmetabolic men without genetic haemochromatosis.

Aims: To assess the relation between moderate iron overload on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels and gonadotroph function in men with dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome and the effects of phlebotomy.

Methods: The relationship between magnetic resonance imaging assessed liver iron concentration (LIC) and plasma ferritin levels with total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone (BT), SHBG and LH levels, were studied in 50 men with moderate dysmetabolic iron excess, in the absence of genetic haemochromatosis, who were randomised to phlebotomy therapy or to normal care.

Results: Four patients (8%) had low total testosterone (<10.

Specific molecular and cellular events induced by irradiated X-ray photoactivatable drugs raise the problem of co-toxicities: particular consequences for anti-cancer synchrotron therapy.

Synchrotrons are capable of producing intense low-energy X-rays that enable the photoactivation of high-Z elements. Photoactivation therapy (PAT) consists of loading tumors with photoactivatable drugs and thereafter irradiating them at an energy, generally close to the K-edge of the element, that enhances the photoelectric effect. To date, three major photoactivatable elements are used in PAT: platinum (cisplatin and carboplatin), iodine (iodinated contrast agents and iododeoxyuridine) and gadolinium (motexafin gadolinium).