Ethinylestradiol30μg-drospirenone and metformin: could this combination improve endothelial dysfunction in polycystic ovary syndrome?

Background: We are hereby investigating for the first time the effect of the association ethinylestradiol30μg-drospirenone 3mg (DRP/EE30μg) plus metformin and weight loss on endothelial status and C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods: 25 young women with PCOS (mean age 22.76 ± 0.

Circulating osteoprotegerin and soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand in polycystic ovary syndrome: relationships to insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction.

Objective: There is plenty of evidence that osteoprotegerin (OPG) is linked to subclinical vascular damage and predicts cardiovascular disease in high-risk populations. Our aim is to investigate the relationships of OPG/free soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (sRANKL) to insulin resistance, brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), and the carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, impaired glucose control, and endothelial injury.

Design: A cross-sectional, observational study.

Association between body composition and bone mineral density in healthy, non-obese, young Romanian adults and effects of menopause.

Introduction: The link between bone mass and body composition is widely recognized, but the mechanism remains unclear. Most studies enrolled subjects irrespective of their body weight and only few works were selectively performed on healthy subjects with body mass index (BMI) within normal limits.

Material And Methods: We aimed to determine the relevance of body composition parameters to bone mass in healthy, young and non-obese Romanian volunteers (n=42) and in postmenopausal women (n=20) and to establish the effects of menopausal transition.

IFNalpha-induced recurrence of Graves' disease ten years after thyroidectomy in chronic viral hepatitis C. Case report.

In contrast to chronic or subacute thyroiditis, Graves' disease rarely complicates IFN-alpha therapy for chronic viral C hepatitis. We report the case of a 51-year-old man in whom IFN-alpha treatment was followed by recurrence of Graves' disease 10 years after thyroidectomy was performed and the patient was declared cured. Despite severe thyrotoxicosis, combined IFN-alpha and ribavirin therapy was continued and radioiodine treatment was considered for Graves' disease.

Primary pituitary abscess followed by empty sella syndrome in an adolescent girl.

Primary pituitary abscess is a rare pituitary pathology, particularly at a young age and is characterized by atypical clinical features making the diagnosis difficult. Correct diagnosis and therapy are mandatory due to the potentially lethal outcome of pituitary infection. We report the case of an adolescent girl presenting with headache, diabetes insipidus and central thyro-gonadic insufficiency with no history of infection, in whom the intra-operative diagnosis of primary pituitary abscess was made.

Expression of adrenomedullin in human epicardial adipose tissue: role of coronary status.

Epicardial white adipose tissue (eWAT) is in close contact with coronary vessels and therefore could alter coronary homeostasis. Adrenomedullin (AM) is a potent vasodilatator and antioxidative peptide which has been shown to play a cytoprotective role in experimental models of acute myocardial infarction. We studied, using immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR, the expression of AM and its receptors calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR), and receptor activity-modifying protein (RAMP)2 and -3 in paired biopsies of subcutaneous WAT (sWAT) and eWAT obtained from patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) or without CAD (NCAD).

Three new 46,XX male patients: a clinical, cytogenetic and molecular analysis.

Background: XX males range phenotypically from completely masculinised individuals to true hermaphrodites and include a subset of SRY negative patients. The correlation between genotype (SRY+/-) and phenotype is still unclear.

Aim: To report three new patients with this rare condition, one of whom was diagnosed prenatally and another was SRY negative, and to verify in our patients whether the presence of SRY results in a more masculinised phenotype.

Bone matrix insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, IGF-II and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 levels in men and postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: lack of association with circulating growth factors and bone mineral density.

Previous clinical studies have suggested a positive correlation between serum insulin-like growth factor components and bone mass in both men and women with or without osteoporosis. The aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between the skeletal levels of insulin-like growth factors and transforming growth factor-b1 and bone mineral density in a group of men and postmenopausal women in whom osteoporosis was diagnosed previously. Bone matrix extraction was achieved by passive dialysis against tetrasodium EDTA-guanidine-HCL.

Growth analysis in patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency influence of glucocorticoid dosage, age at diagnosis, phenotype and genotype on growth and height outcome.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of hydrocortisone dosage, age at diagnosis, compliance, genotype and phenotype on growth and height outcome in 21-hydroxylase-deficient patients.

Methods: We analyzed 37 patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (17 had completed growth, 20 still growing). Final (FH)/predicted final height (pFH) and loss of height potential related to target height (TH) were calculated and the impact of 4 hydrocortisone (HC) dosage regimens on height outcome and growth velocities was evaluated.

Mutational analysis and genotype-phenotype correlation in patients with classic 21-hydroxylase deficiency from transylvania (north-west Romania).

The regional incidence of 21-hydroxylase deficiency, its mutational spectrum and the correlation of genotype and phenotype has been studied by European, American and Latin-American groups. However, little information is known about the molecular background of the disease in patients from Central-Eastern Europe. The present study aimed to genotype a group of patients from Transylvania, the north-western part of Romania, in order to gain some insight into the molecular pattern and the genotype-phenotype correlation of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in this region.