ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Background. Thyroid disorders are the most prevalent of all autoimmune diseases and identifying them clinically can be challenging. A retrospective study was taken up with the aim to determine the prevalence of anti thyroid antibodies (ATA) in both suspected thyroid as well as non-thyroid diseases.\r\nMaterials and methods. During a period of 18 months, 207 serum samples were screened for anti thyroid antibodies by Elisa method. Clinical data of 171 cases were available for review. These 171 cases were classified into two clinical subgroups: thyroid diseases (106 cases) and non-thyroid diseases (65 cases).\r\nStatistical Method. For data analysis Epi-info was used.\r\nResults. 60.82% cases were positive for anti thyroid antibodies. 53.22% (91/171) were positive for anti Thyroglobulin (TG) antibodies whereas 50.29% (86/171) were positive for anti Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies. For TG 34.50% were strongly positive and 18.71% were weakly positive and for TPO, there were 32.75% and 17.54%, respectively. ATA were positive in 79.25% of suspected thyroid diseases whereas they were positive in 30.77% of non-thyroid diseases. The relationship between the two antibodies was highly significant as it was observed that both thyroid antibodies were present in 68.87% (73/104) of positive cases whereas 29.81% (31/104) were positive for either TG or TPO antibodies alone.\r\nConclusion.ATA are good markers for the assessment of thyroid autoimmunity. Being negative for antibodies does not necessarily exclude thyroid autoimmunity in many instances; but when antibodies are positive, together with clinical presentations, they strongly indicate the autoimmune nature of the disease.

Aim: We have undertaken an attempt to compare the application efficacy of the proliferative activity markers in the differential diagnosis of thyroid H?rthle cell tumors using the PCNA and Ki-67 labeling and AgNOR visualization techniques.\r\nMaterials and methods: The present work is a retrospective analysis of proliferative potential in 40 H?rthle cell tumors, on paraffin blocks: 10 H?rthle cell carcinomas (HCC), 16 H?rthle cell adenomas (HCA) and 14 hyperplastic nodules with H?rthle cell metaplasia (HCM). The evaluation of the mean number of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) per nucleus and the proliferative index (PI-the percentage of PCNA and Ki-67 positive cells) was performed using staining silver impregnation method and antibodies against PCNA (clone PC 10) and Ki-67 (clone MIB-1) in LSAB detection Kit and visualization with DAB (diaminobenzidine). U-Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis. The difference was considered significant for p<0.05.\r\nResults: The values of PI-PCNA, PI-Ki-67 as well as the mean AgNOR counts in nuclei were: 25.5, 12.8, and 5.0 in HCC; 7.6, 4.9, and 3.1 in HCA and respectively 5.1, 4.0 and 2.3 in HCM. Statistically significant differences were found in all the proliferative\r\nactivity markers between malignant and benign tumors: HCM: HCC (p<0.0001) and HCC: HCA (p<0.001). Indifferently of the examined markers and the method of quantification of the reaction, we did not found significant differences between hyperplastic nodules with H?rthle cell metaplasia and oncocytic adenomas (p< 0.07).\r\nConclusions: PI-PCNA, PI Ki-67 and mean AgNOR/ nucleus, used as markers for the appreciation of proliferative activity of oncocytic thyroid tumors (classified as adenomas, carcinomas and hyperplastic nodules with H?rthle cells), reflect differences between the studied thyroid lesions. Our results indicate the utility of these parameters in the differentiation of the benign oncocytic tumors from the malignant ones.

Background. Sarcopenia is a syndrome, considered one of the main risk factors for morbidity and mortality among adults. Thyrotoxicosis may contribute to its development. Aim. To assess the physical well-being among women with thyrotoxicosis and to determine the risk of sarcopenia among them; 13 women over 40 years of age with thyrotoxicosis took part in this study. Materials and Methods. Grip strength was used to assess muscle strength. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass, adjusted for body size was used to asses muscle quantity. Physical performance was measured by gait speed test. We divided women in groups: group A - patients with newly diagnosed thyrotoxicosis and group B - patients who had started treatment. Results. The values of muscle strength, muscle mass and gait speed were lower in group A compared to group B. Three of the patients in group A were diagnosed with severe sarcopenia. Thus the frequency of sarcopenia was 50% in this group. None of the women in group B met the criteria for sarcopenia. Despite the small number of women in this study, we can conclude that untreated thyrotoxicosis is a risk factor for decreased muscle strength, quantity and physical performance and could cause secondary sarcopenia.

Context. Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) has been widely shown to impact neurological disorders. Recently, growing evidence suggests that CUMS may also contribute to the development of metabolic conditions such as diabetes mellitus. Objective. This study aimed to investigate blood glucose levels and histopathological and immunohistochemical changes in the endocrine pancreas in an experimental rat model of CUMS, as well as the potential protective effects of vortioxetine (VOR) treatment. Subjects and methods. A total of 28 rats were divided into four groups. The CUMS group was exposed to random stressors once daily for six weeks. Rats in the VOR and CUMS+VOR groups received VOR treatment. The VOR and control groups were housed separately, without exposure to CUMS. At the end of the experiment, blood and pancreatic tissue samples were collected from all rats. Results. Blood glucose levels were elevated in the CUMS group compared to the other groups. Histopathological analysis revealed a reduction in insulin, amylin, and insulin receptor expression, along with a slight increase in glucagon expression and a small number of necrotic cells in the CUMS group. VOR treatment improved all these parameters. Conclusions. Our findings suggested that CUMS may contribute to endocrine pancreatic damage resembling diabetes mellitus, while VOR treatment may mitigate this effect.

Hyponatremia is a common abnormality found in patients admitted in an internal medicine department of an emergency hospital. Sometimes its cause is quite easy to find (in our clinic especially drug-induced due to thiazide or various antidepressant medication in geriatric population), but in other situations it proved to be a challenging diagnosis in what concerns etiology. It is not frequently found in young patients and if this situation occurs a tight diagnosis protocol is always recommended.

Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is the most common renal side effect seen with lithium therapy. Persisting cases after the cessation of the therapy may be seen when lithium therapy is continued for too long. Although desmopressin treatment is not one of the accepted treatment modalities for NDI, there are few reports using desmopressin treatment in unresponsive cases. Herein, we reported the fourth lithium-induced NDI case in the literature responsive to desmopressin therapy.

Introduction: Leptin, which is known to regulate appetite and energy expenditures, may also contribute to mediate the effects of fat mass on the bone.\r\nObjective: The aim of this study was to analyse to what extent leptin and total body composition influence the maintenance of bone mass.\r\nSubjects and methods: We evaluated 34 women divided into two BMI-matched groups based on the ovarian function: 12 premenopausal women, aged 34.08?7.18 years and 22 postmenopausal women aged 61.31?4.51 years, respectively. Total body composition (total fat mass, trunk fat mass and lean mass) and bone mineral density were measured by means of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Serum leptin concentrations were assessed by ELISA.\r\nResults: The bone mineral content was influenced by both the fat mass (women with normal menstrual cycles r=0.62, p=0.03; postmenopausal women r=0.625, p=0.002) and the trunk fat mass (r=0.597, p=0.004 premenopausal women; r=0.675, p=0.001 postmenopausal women), independently of the ovarian function. Only for the postmenopausal group we could identify a significant correlation between leptin levels and the total body bone mineral density (r=0.479, p=0.024) and the total body bone mineral content (r=0.605, p=0.003), respectively. The serum leptin levels were highly significantly correlated with the total fat mass and the trunk fat mass for both groups. No difference was obtained with regard to the serum leptin levels between pre- and postmenopausal women.\r\nConclusions: Our results suggest the role played by leptin and the fat mass in the maintenance of bone mass.

Background. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered as an important health confounder in our world, which necessitates its better management by new methods. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of oral Arnebia Euchroma (AE) extract on different stereological parameters of the pancreas as well as blood glucose in Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in rats. Methods. We divided 48 Wistar rats into 4 groups: C1 including normal rats, C2 not-treated diabetic rats, E1 with diabetic rats receiving 100 mg/kg AE extract orally, and E2 including diabetic rats treated with 300 mg/kg AE extract. Stereological study was done and the levels of blood glucose were also estimated and compared between experimental and control groups. Results. There were significant differences in volumes of pancreatic islets, β cell populations, blood glucose levels in AE treated groups compared with nottreated diabetic group. Conclusion. Although AE did not completely prevent or heal the pancreatic damage, its oral administration showed promising effects on maintaining the population of beta cells, the main insulin secreting cells, after STZ-induced injury and also lowered blood glucose levels compared to the not-treated diabetic group.

-

-