Purpose: Long-term studies are needed to investigate the safety of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in routine practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of biosimilar rhGH (somatropin; Omnitrope) in adults with GHD.
Methods: PAtients TReated with Omnitrope (PATRO) Adults was a post-marketing surveillance study conducted across Europe.
Impaired sensitivity to thyroid hormones encompasses disorders with defective transport of hormones into cells, reduced hormone metabolism, and resistance to hormone action. Mediated by heritable single-gene defects, these rare conditions exhibit different patterns of discordant thyroid function associated with multisystem phenotypes. In this context, challenges include ruling out other causes of biochemical discordance, making a diagnosis using clinical features together with the identification of pathogenic variants in causal genes, and managing these rare disorders with a limited evidence base.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany members of the American Thyroid Association played prominent roles in discovering the various aspects of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. This axis is fundamental for maintaining the normal serum levels of circulating thyroid hormones (THs) and thus the euthyroid state. The pituitary glycoprotein hormone, thyrotropin (TSH), controls the activity of the thyroid gland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate safety and effectiveness of biosimilar recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; Omnitrope®) in adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), using data from the PATRO Adults study.
Methods: PATRO Adults was a post-marketing surveillance study conducted in hospitals and specialized endocrinology units across Europe. The primary objective was to assess the safety of rhGH in adults treated in routine clinical practice.
Introduction: Growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) in adults is characterized by abnormal body composition, unfavorable cardiovascular risk factors, and poor quality of life. The diagnosis is made within appropriate clinical settings and according to established guidelines. Numerous studies have shown that GH treatment improves body composition, cardiovascular risk factors, physical capacity, and quality of life while issues on safety, in particular long-term safety, remain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To assess the safety (particularly the occurrence of malignancies) of growth hormone (GH) replacement (Omnitrope) in adults with GH deficiency, using data from the ongoing PATRO Adults post-marketing surveillance study.
Methods: PATRO Adults is being conducted in hospitals and specialized endocrinology clinics across Europe. All enrolled patients who receive ⩾1 dose of Omnitrope are included in the safety population.
Discrepant thyroid function tests (TFTs) are typical of inappropriate secretion of TSH (IST), a rare entity encompassing TSH-secreting adenomas (TSHoma) and Resistance to Thyroid Hormone (RTHβ) due to mutations. The differential diagnosis remains a clinical challenge in most of the cases. The objective of this study was to share our experience with patients presenting with discrepant TFTs outlining the main pitfalls in the differential diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To evaluate the impact of treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; Omnitrope®) on the risk of diabetes mellitus in adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), using data from the ongoing PATRO Adults post-marketing surveillance study.
Methods: PATRO Adults is an ongoing post-marketing surveillance study being conducted in hospitals and specialized endocrinology clinics across Europe. All enrolled patients who receive ≥1 dose of Omnitrope® are included in the safety population.
LHX3 is an LIM domain transcription factor involved in the early steps of pituitary ontogenesis. We report here functional studies of three allelic variants, including the first heterozygous variant of LHX3 NM_178138.5(LHX3):c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in Table 2. The table 2 was truncated in the original publication. The full table 2 is given below.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is caused by germline inactivating mutations of the MEN1 gene. Currently, no direct genotype-phenotype correlation is identified. We aim to analyze MEN1 mutation site and features, and possible correlations between the mutation type and/or the affected menin functional domain and clinical presentation in patients from the Italian multicenter MEN1 database, one of the largest worldwide MEN1 mutation series published to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCentral hypothyroidism is a rare and heterogeneous disorder that is characterized by a defect in thyroid hormone secretion in an otherwise normal thyroid gland due to insufficient stimulation by TSH. The disease results from the abnormal function of the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, or both. Moreover, central hypothyroidism can be isolated or combined with other pituitary hormone deficiencies, which are mostly acquired and are rarely congenital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relationships between GH system and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis are complex and not yet fully understood. The reported effects of GH administration on thyroid status of GHD patients have been remarkably divergent. This review will focus on the main studies aimed to clarify the effects of GH on thyroid function, firstly going through the diagnosis of central hypothyroidism and its possible pitfalls, then elucidating the possible contexts in which GHD may develop and examining the proposed mechanisms at the basis of interactions between the GH-IGF-I system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: In animal models, disruption of thyroid hormone (TH) receptor-β (TRβ) reduces the long/medium wavelength (L/M) and increases the short-wavelength (S) cones. Retinal photoreceptor (RP) functions are unknown in patients with resistance to TH syndrome (RTHβ) with dominant-negative TRβ mutations.
Objective: To investigate RP functions in RTHβ.
Objective: The aim of this study was to integrate European epidemiological data on patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 by creating an Italian registry of this syndrome, including clinical and genetic characteristics and therapeutic management.
Methods: Clinical, familial and genetic data of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, diagnosed, treated, and followed-up for a mean time of 11.3 years, in 14 Italian referral endocrinological centers, were collected, over a 3-year course (2011-2013), to build a national electronic database.
Context: Patients with adrenal incidentalomas (AI) may experience detrimental consequences due to a minimal cortisol excess sustained by adrenal adenoma. SNPs of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) modulate individual sensitivity to glucocorticoids and may interfere with the clinical presentation.
Objective: To compare the frequency of N363S, ER22/23EK and BclI SNPs in patients with AI with the general population and to evaluate whether these SNPs are linked to consequences of cortisol excess.
In adrenal incidentaloma (AI) patients, beside the cortisol secretion, a different 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD11B2) activity, measurable by 24-h urinary cortisol/cortisone ratio (R-UFF/UFE) (the higher R-UFF/UFE the lower HSD11B2 activity), could influence the occurrence of the subclinical hypercortisolism (SH)-related complications (hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity). We evaluated whether in AI patients, UFF levels are associated to UFE levels, and the HSD11B2 activity to the complications presence. In 156 AI patients (93F, age 65.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The B cell activating factor (BAFF) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor family, which controls the survival/proliferation of B cells and is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of autoimmune diseases. The objective of the present study was to investigate the expression of BAFF and BAFF receptor (BAFF-R) in the thyroid tissue of patients affected with autoimmune thyroid disorders (AITD) or multinodular goiter (MNG) compared with those with normal thyroids.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed using a panel of antibodies against BAFF, BAFF-R, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD34, CD79a, CD1a, CD68, and CD163 on the thyroid sections of 27 patients affected with Graves' disease (GD), 23 with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), 16 with nontoxic nodular goiter (NTG), and 15 with toxic nodular goiter (TG), submitted to total thyroidectomy between 2000 and 2011.
Objective: To determine whether characteristics and outcomes of Italian patients in the observational global Hypopituitary Control and Complication Study (HypoCCS) differed according to the degree of GH deficiency (GHD).
Design: Patients were grouped by tertiles of stimulated GH peak concentration at baseline (Group A lowest tertile, n = 342; Group B middle tertile, n = 345; Group C highest tertile, n = 338).
Results: Baseline demographics, lipid levels, body mass index categories and mean Framingham cardiovascular risk indexes were similar in the three groups and remained substantially unchanged over time, with no subsequent significant between-group differences (except mean levels of triglycerides increased in the highest tertile group).
Introduction: Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) account for about 40% of pituitary tumors. Pituitary deficiencies are present at diagnosis in 60-80% of NFPA, and, classically, growth hormone (GH) secretion is lost first, while adrenocorticotropic hormone is expected to disappear last. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of multiple or isolated pituitary deficiencies in a large series of NFPA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Intravenous glucocorticoids (IVGC) administered at high doses for the treatment of active moderate-severe Graves' orbitopathy (GO) may induce liver toxicity. Cumulative doses should not exceed 8 g and strict monitoring of liver function is recommended to avoid potentially life-threatening side effects. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme reductase inhibitors, also known as statins, are employed to prevent major cardiovascular events.
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