Association of serum testosterone levels and testicular volume in adult patients.

A retrospective observational study was undertaken to gain new insight into the relationship between total testicular volume and levels of serum testosterone, luteinising hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin and clinical variables. A total of 312 men with sexual dysfunction or infertility were divided into groups A and B (156 each) on the basis of basal plasma testosterone ≤5 nmol/L of ≥12 nmol/L respectively. Group A was subclassified in A (primary hypogonadism) and A (secondary hypogonadism).

Autonomic, neuroendocrine, and immunological effects of ayahuasca: a comparative study with d-amphetamine.

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea combining the 5-HT2A agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting β-carboline alkaloids that render DMT orally active. The tea, obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, has traditionally been used for religious, ritual, and medicinal purposes by the indigenous peoples of the region. More recently, the syncretistic religious use of ayahuasca has expanded to the United States and Europe.

Metabolic syndrome in Mediterranean women with polycystic ovary syndrome: when and how to predict its onset.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS). The metabolic disorders are not universal and may vary with race, age and phenotype. Our purpose was to determine the clinical and biochemical characteristics of Mediterranean PCOS women with MetS, compare them with non-MetS PCOS patients, and assess the ability of clinical data and biochemical tests to predict these abnormalities within our population.

[Association of nocturnal penile rigidity with testosterone, metabolic syndrome, and other variables: a prospective cross-sectional pilot study].

Introduction: The aim was to study whether nocturnal penile rigidity (NPTR) correlates with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and testosterone in men consulting for erectile dysfunction (ED).

Material And Methods: 234 men were included in a prospective, cross-sectional pilot study. Serum total and bioavailable testosterone and other biochemical constituents were measured and compared with NPTR.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among human immunodeficiency virus-infected subjects is widely influenced by the diagnostic criteria.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III), European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR), and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definitions.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 159 consecutive adult HIV-infected subjects (120 males and 39 females) under HAART. Anthropometric and laboratory parameters were measured by standard methods.

A link between bone mineral density and serum adiponectin and visfatin levels in acromegaly.

Context: Two adipokines highly expressed in fat mass, adiponectin with antiinflammatory and antiatherogenic properties and visfatin with an insulin-mimetic effect, are potential contributors to bone metabolism. In acromegaly, data on adiponectin are contradictory, and there are no data on visfatin.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate adiponectin and visfatin in acromegaly, compared to control subjects, and to analyze their relationship with body composition and bone markers.

Deleterious effects of glucocorticoid replacement on bone in women after long-term remission of Cushing's syndrome.

Endogenous hypercortisolism and high-dose and long-term glucocorticoid (GC) therapy reduce bone mass. Patients in remission after successful treatment of Cushing's syndrome (CS) often present hypoadrenalism and require long-term GC replacement. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether this GC "replacement" had any further effect on bone in women after long-term remission of CS.

Long-lasting subclinical Addison's disease.

Objective: To report a patient with autoimmune adrenal disease and increased ACTH with longstanding hyperpigmentation as an isolated symptom.

Methods: A 49-year-old woman requested a diagnostic work-up for hyperpigmentation initiated 9 years before, associated with increased ACTH. She was receiving replacement therapy for autoimmune hypothyroidism.

[Thyroid dysfunction in women with suspected fibromyalgia].

Background And Objective: Due to its prevalence, morbidity, and frequency rate, fibromyalgia (FM) represents a health problem and produces high healthcare resource utilization. Serum thyrotropin (TSH) measurement is recommended as a first-line laboratory test to exclude hypothyroidism as a cause of FM syndrome. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction (TD), the frequency of TSH measurement, the effect of levothyroxine treatment, and whether screening for TD is justified in women with suspected FM.

Effects of bariatric surgery on vitamin D status and secondary hyperparathyroidism: a prospective study.

Background: Morbidly obese patients have been reported to present with vitamin D insufficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism. Scattered data are available regarding the effects of bariatric surgery on vitamin D status. We studied calcium metabolism and vitamin D status before and after bariatric surgery.

Metabolic syndrome at follow-up in women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus in index pregnancy.

We prospectively studied 262 women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and 66 control women to compare their prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its relationship with insulin secretion and sensitivity. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was scheduled 5 years after delivery along with lipid profile, anthropometrics, and blood pressure measurement. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program 2001, and insulin sensitivity and secretion were estimated with the homeostasis model assessment.

Influence of exogenous insulin on C-peptide levels in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether the influence of insulin therapy on fasting and stimulated C-peptide levels in type 2 diabetic subjects is due to plasma glucose reduction or a direct effect of exogenous insulin.

Methods: Plasma glucose and serum C-peptide levels were determined before and after IV injection of 1mg glucagon on three separate days in 21 type 2 diabetic subjects. Day 1: without pharmacological treatment and fasting plasma glucose > 11.

Unchanged hypovitaminosis D and secondary hyperparathyroidism in morbid obesity after bariatric surgery.

Background: Morbidly obese patients have been reported to present with vitamin D insufficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism. We assessed whether bariatric surgery alters the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcidiol) and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels in patients presenting with morbid obesity.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 144 patients of whom 80 had not undergone bariatric surgery, while 64 had bariatric surgery at a mean of 36 months previously.

Emerging cardiovascular risk factors in subclinical hypothyroidism: lack of change after restoration of euthyroidism.

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is a frequent condition that may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. There is current interest in determining the effect, if any, of substitutive therapy with l-thyroxine (L-T4) on cardiovascular risk factors in SH and, particularly, on those associated with emerging cardiovacular risk, such as apolipoprotein (apo) B, lipoprotein (Lp) (a), total homocysteine (t-Hcy), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the impact of euthyroidism restoration on these emerging risk factors in SH.

Evaluation of two nonisotopic immunoassays for determination of glutamic acid decarboxylase and tyrosine phosphatase autoantibodies in serum.

Background: Autoantibodies for the 65-kDa form of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) and protein tyrosine phosphatase-like protein (IA-2) are measured for risk prediction and diagnosis of autoimmune diabetes mellitus. There is a lack of adequate nonisotopic alternatives to the most widely used method for both autoantibodies, which is a radiobinding assay (RBA).

Methods: We compared two commercially available immunoassays, an ELISA and a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (TR-IFMA), with RBA.

Thyroglobulin autoantibody levels below the cut-off for positivity can interfere with thyroglobulin measurement.

Antithyroglobulin antibodies can interfere with the measurement of thyroglobulin yielding spuriously high or low levels depending on the method used. Interference is unrelated to the antibody concentration and can occur at very low concentrations. We report a patient in whom antithyroglobulin antibodies below the cut-off for positivity nearly led to an incorrect diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis factitia.

Decreased insulin requirements after LAR-octreotide but not after lanreotide in an acromegalic patient.

A diabetic acromegalic man, not cured after surgery and radiosurgery, received lanreotide i.m. with great clinical and biochemical improvement.

Effect of cholecystokinin-A receptor blockade on postprandial insulinaemia and gastric emptying in humans.

Our aim was determine the relationship between cholecystokinin (CCK)-A receptor blockade, glucose levels, insulin secretion and gastric emptying in humans, and to assess the effect of CCK-A blockade on pancreatic polypeptide secretion. After a 12-h fast, six healthy volunteers were given [99mTc]iminodiacetic acid monosodium salt (IDA) intravenously (5 mCi). One hour later they were offered a 577 kcal liquid meal containing [99mTc]diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) (2 mCi) and glucose (105 g).

Falsely increased prostate-specific antigen concentration attributed to heterophilic antibodies.

We describe a 50-year-old man with a serum total prostatic-specific antigen concentration of 67.6 microg/L (reference range 0-4 microg/L) revealed as part of an annual health check programme. Clinical examination failed to identify any prostatic abnormality, and laboratory investigation indicated positive interference due to heterophilic antibodies.

Genetic, clinical, and biochemical analysis of unrelated Spanish families with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I.

Objective: (1) To study seven unrelated Spanish families with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN I), describing clinical features and investigating the presence of germline mutations in the MEN1 gene, and (2) to establish reference values for pancreatic polypeptide and gastrin after a standardized test meal in a healthy control group, analyzing the usefulness of this test for detecting neuroendocrine gastroenteropancreatic tumors in subjects with MEN I.

Methods: Two or three generations of 7 kindreds with MEN I, consisting of a total of 39 individual family members, were investigated. Three of the families were subjected only to genetic analysis, and the other four families were also assessed clinically.