102,142 research outputs found
Diabetes and sexual dysfunction: current perspectives
No full textMaria Ida Maiorino,1 Giuseppe Bellastella,1 Katherine Esposito2 1Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Geriatric Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy; 2Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy Abstract: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in nearly all countries. It has been associated with sexual dysfunction, both in males and in females. Diabetes is an established risk factor for sexual dysfunction in men, as a threefold increased risk of erectile dysfunction was documented in diabetic men, as compared with nondiabetic men. Among women, evidence regarding the association between diabetes and sexual dysfunction are less conclusive, although most studies have reported a higher prevalence of female sexual dysfunction in diabetic women as compared with nondiabetic women. Female sexual function appears to be more related to social and psychological components than to the physiological consequence of diabetes. Hyperglycemia, which is a main determinant of vascular and microvascular diabetic complications, may participate in the pathogenetic mechanisms of sexual dysfunction in diabetes. Moreover, diabetic people may present several clinical conditions, including hypertension, overweight and obesity, metabolic syndrome, cigarette smoking, and atherogenic dyslipidemia, which are themselves risk factors for sexual dysfunction, both in men and in women. The adoption of healthy lifestyles may reduce insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress – all of which are desirable achievements in diabetic patients. Improved well-being may further contribute to reduce and prevent sexual dysfunction in both sexes. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, diabetes complications, erectile dysfunction, female sexual dysfunction, lifestyle change
Antipituitary antibodies against gonadotropin-secreting cells in adult male patients with apparently idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.
No full textJ Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Feb;92(2):604-7. Epub 2006 Nov 7.
Antipituitary antibodies against gonadotropin-secreting cells in adult male patients with apparently idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.
De Bellis A, Sinisi AA, Conte M, Coronella C, Bellastella G, Esposito D, Pasquali D, Ruocco G, Bizzarro A, Bellastella A.
SourceDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Surgery F Magrassi, A Lanzara, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy. [email protected]
Abstract
CONTEXT: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) can occur at any stage of life as an isolated congenital or acquired abnormality or within a more generalized pituitary or hypothalamic impairment. However, the defect in patients with idiopathic HH is still unknown.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antipituitary antibodies (APA) in a group of HH patients with or without Kallmann's syndrome and to characterize their pituitary target.
DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional cohort study.
SETTING: The study was performed at the Endocrinology Unit of the Second University of Naples.
PATIENTS: Twenty-one HH patients with normal sense of smell (group 1), 10 patients with Kallmann's syndrome (group 2), 13 patients with HH associated with other pituitary hormone deficiencies (group 3), and 50 normal controls were studied.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: APA were evaluated in patients and in controls by indirect immunofluorescence. Moreover, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the hypothalamic-pituitary region was performed in all three groups of patients.
RESULTS: APA were detected at high titer in eight out of 21 patients in group 1 (38%) and in five of 13 in group 3 (38.4%), and at low titers in two out of 10 in group 2 (20%) and in three of 50 controls (6%). In patients of group 1, APA immunostained selectively gonadotropin-secreting cells, whereas in those of group 3, they immunostained other pituitary hormone-secreting cells also. None of patients in group 1 showed alterations on MRI, whereas all patients in group 2 showed aplasia/hypoplasia of the olfactory bulbs/tracts and/or of olfactory sulci. Among the five APA-positive patients in group 3, three had normal MRI, one had findings of empty sella, and one had findings of autoimmune hypophysitis.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that some apparently idiopathic cases of HH, both isolated and associated with other pituitary impairment, can be caused by an early autoimmune process involving the gonadotrophs at pituitary level. Future longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the natural history of this process and the possible effect of early corticosteroid therapy
Endocrine rhythms and sport: it is time to take time into account
No full textStudies of time-related biological phenomena have contributed to establishing a new scientific discipline, the chronobiology, which considers biological phenomena in relation to time. Sports activity profoundly affects the temporal organization of the organism and endocrine rhythms play a key role in the chronoorganization of individuals and are particularly important for correct physical activity. Correctly reading rhythmic hormonal variations of the human organism opens new horizons to sports medicine
Natural and synthetic retinoids in prostate cancer
No full textAbstract: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer for men in Europe, North America, and some parts of Africa.
Initially, growth of prostate cancer is usually androgen-dependent, but often it becomes androgen-independent after androgen-
deprivation therapy. Managing hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma remains a difficult challenge for clinicians.
Retinoids, vitamin A and its synthetic analogs are one of the most studied class of chemopreventive drugs for PCa. Retinoids
play a key role in several vital functions as vision and development, and also exert anti-proliferative actions. Antiproliferative
effects of retinoids rely on the regulation of many biological processes, including differentiation, cell proliferation,
and apoptosis. Retinoid actions are mediated by two classes of nuclear proteins called retinoic acid (RARa,b and
g and retinoic a,b and g receptors, which are ligand-regulated transcription factors. Effects of both all-trans -retinoic acid
(RA), the natural active derivative of vitamin A, and its synthetic derivatives, on prostate gland or prostate cell lines implicate
retinoids in the regulation of prostate growth and suppression of PCa development. Deficient retinoid availability
and action at the cellular level because of either decreased content or altered metabolism in PCa cells can play a key role
in abnormal cellular differentiation pathways, and the loss of anti-proliferative effects. Here we review the in vitro and in
vivo effects of retinoids in PCa
Chronothyroidology: Chronobiological aspects in thyroid function and diseases
No full textChronobiology is the scientific discipline which considers biological phenomena in relation to time, which assumes itself biological identity. Many physiological processes are cyclically regulated by intrinsic clocks and many pathological events show a circadian time-related occurrence. Even the pituitary–thyroid axis is under the control of a central clock, and the hormones of the pituitary–thyroid axis exhibit circadian, ultradian and circannual rhythmicity. This review, after describing briefly the essential principles of chronobiology, will be focused on the results of personal experiences and of other studies on this issue, paying particular attention to those regarding the thyroid implications, appearing in the literature as reviews, metanalyses, original and observational studies until 28 February 2021 and acquired from two databases (Scopus and PubMed). The first input to biological rhythms is given by a central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which dictates the timing from its hypothalamic site to satellite clocks that contribute in a hierarchical way to regulate the physiological rhythmicity. Disruption of the rhythmic organization can favor the onset of important disorders, including thyroid diseases. Several studies on the interrelationship between thyroid function and circadian rhythmicity demonstrated that thyroid dysfunctions may affect negatively circadian organization, disrupting TSH rhythm. Conversely, alterations of clock machinery may cause important perturbations at the cellular level, which may favor thyroid dysfunctions and also cancer
- …
