Endocrine Reviews

Some endocrine disorders, including hypophysitis and isolated ACTH deficiency, are caused by an autoimmune response to endocrine organs. Although the pathogenesis of some autoimmune endocrine diseases has been elucidated, it remains obscure for most. Anti-PIT-1 hypophysitis (anti-PIT-1 antibody syndrome) is a newly described pituitary autoimmune disease characterized by acquired and specific growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) deficiencies. This disorder is associated with a thymoma or neoplasm that ectopically expresses PIT-1 protein...

Synthetic progestogens (progestins) have been linked to increased breast cancer risk; however, the role of endogenous progesterone in breast physiology and carcinogenesis is less clearly defined. Mechanistic studies using cell culture, tissue culture, and preclinical models implicate progesterone in breast carcinogenesis. In contrast, limited epidemiologic data generally do not show an association of circulating progesterone levels with risk, and it is unclear whether this reflects methodologic limitations or a truly null relationship...

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor (GIPR) is associated with obesity in human genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Similarly, mouse genetic studies indicate that loss of function alleles and GIP overexpression both protect from high-fat diet (HFD)-induced weight gain. Together, these data provide compelling evidence to develop therapies targeting GIPR for the treatment of obesity. Further, both antagonists and agonists alone prevent weight gain, but result in remarkable weight loss when co-dosed or molecularly combined with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs preclinically...

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor (GIPR) is associated with obesity in human genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Similarly, mouse genetic studies indicate that loss of function alleles and GIP overexpression both protect from high-fat diet (HFD)-induced weight gain. Together, these data provide compelling evidence to develop therapies targeting GIPR for the treatment of obesity. Further, both antagonists and agonists alone prevent weight gain, but result in remarkable weight loss when co-dosed or molecularly combined with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs preclinically...

Differences/Disorders of sex development (DSD) are a heterogeneous group of congenital conditions that result in discordance between an individual's sex chromosomes, gonads, and/or anatomic sex. Advances in the clinical care of patients and families affected by 46,XY DSD have been achieved since publication of the original Consensus meeting in 2006. The aims of this paper are to review what is known about morbidity and mortality, diagnostic tools and timing, sex of rearing, endocrine and surgical treatment, fertility and sexual function, and quality of life in 46,XY DSD people...

An ever-increasing population of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer is engaging with healthcare systems around the world. Numerous questions about optimal management have arisen that challenge conventional paradigms. This is particularly the case for patients with low-risk disease, which comprise the majority of new patients. At the same time, new therapies for patients with advanced disease all are also being introduced, which may have the potential to prolong life. This review discusses selected controversial issues in adult papillary thyroid cancer management at both ends of the disease spectrum...

Over the last decade, there have been substantial advances in the identification and characterization of DNA sequence variants associated with individual predisposition to type 1 and type 2 diabetes. As well as providing insights into the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms involved in disease pathogenesis, these risk variants, when combined into a polygenic score, capture information on individual patterns of disease predisposition that have the potential to influence clinical management. In this review, we describe the various opportunities that polygenic scores provide: to predict diabetes risk, to support differential diagnosis, and to understand phenotypic and clinical heterogeneity...

The treatment of advanced thyroid cancer has undergone rapid evolution in the past decade, with multiple kinase inhibitor drug approvals for each subtype of thyroid cancer and a number of other commercially available drugs that have been studied for this indication. While most of the FDA approved drugs are anti-angiogenic multikinase inhibitors-vandetanib, cabozantinib, sorafenib, lenvatinib-there are two FDA indications that are mutation specific-dabrafenib/trametinib for BRAF mutated anaplastic thyroid cancer and larotrectinib for NTRK fusion thyroid cancer...

Steroid biosynthesis and metabolism is reflected by the serum steroid metabolome and, in even more detail, by the 24-hour urine steroid metabolome, which can provide unique insights into alterations of steroid flow and output indicative of underlying conditions. Mass spectrometry-based steroid metabolome profiling has allowed for the identification of unique multi-steroid signatures associated with disorders of steroid biosynthesis and metabolism that can be used for personalized approaches to diagnosis, differential diagnosis and prognostic prediction...

Recent, rapid changes in the treatment of type 1 diabetes have allowed for commercialization of an "artificial pancreas" which is better described as a closed-loop controller of insulin delivery. This review presents the current state of closed-loop control systems and expected future developments with a discussion of the human factor issues in allowing automation of glucose control. The goal of these systems is to minimize or prevent both short and long-term complications from diabetes and to decrease the daily burden of managing diabetes...

While bariatric surgery was developed primarily to treat morbid obesity, evidence from the earliest clinical observations to the most recent clinical trials is consistently demonstrates that these procedures have substantial effects on glucose metabolism. A large base of research indicates that bariatric surgeries such as Roux-en-Y-gastric bypass (RYGB), vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), and biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) improve diabetes in most patients, with effects frequently evident prior to substantial weight reduction...

Both type 2 diabetes (T2D) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) strongly associate with increasing body mass index, and together these metabolic diseases affect millions of individuals. In patients with T2D, increased secretion of glucagon (hyperglucagonemia) contributes to diabetic hyperglycemia as proven by the significant lowering of fasting plasma glucose levels following glucagon receptor antagonist administration. Emerging data now indicate that the elevated plasma concentrations of glucagon may also be associated with hepatic steatosis and not necessarily with the presence or absence of T2D...

GH is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a performance-enhancing anabolic agent. Doping with GH likely began in the early 1980s and became more prevalent with the advent of recombinant technology well before any scientific evidence of benefit. The expectation that GH improves physical function stems from its anabolic and lipolytic properties. Athletic performance depends on muscle strength and the energy required to power muscle function. In recreational athletes, GH selectively improves anaerobic sprint capacity but has not been proven to significantly enhance muscle strength, power, or maximum rate of oxygen consumption...

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The role of chronic inflammation in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and associated complications is now well established. Therapeutic interventions counteracting metabolic inflammation improve insulin secretion and action and glucose control and may prevent long-term complications. Thus, a number of anti-inflammatory drugs approved for the treatment of other inflammatory conditions are evaluated in patients with metabolic syndrome. Most advanced are clinical studies with IL-1 antagonists showing improved β-cell function and glycemia and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and heart failure...

The glycation gap (GGap) and the similar hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) define consistent differences between glycated hemoglobin and actual glycemia derived from fructosamine or mean blood glucose, respectively. Such a disparity may be found in a substantial proportion of people with diabetes, being >1 U of glycated HbA1c% or 7.2 mmol/mol in almost 40% of estimations. In this review we define these indices and explain how they can be calculated and that they are not spurious, being consistent in individuals over time...

Sex steroid estrogens, androgens, and progesterone, produced by the gonads, which have long been considered as endocrine glands, are implicated in sexual differentiation, puberty, and reproduction. However, the impact of sex hormones goes beyond these effects through their role on energy metabolism. Indeed, sex hormones are important physiological regulators of glucose homeostasis and, in particular, of the enteroinsular axis. In this review, we describe the roles of estrogens, androgens, and progesterone on glucose homeostasis through their effects on pancreatic α- and β-cells, as well as on enteroendocrine L-cells, and their implications in hormonal biosynthesis and secretion...

Thyroid hormone (TH) molecules enter cells via membrane transporters and, depending on the cell type, can be activated (i.e., T4 to T3 conversion) or inactivated (i.e., T3 to 3,3'-diiodo-l-thyronine or T4 to reverse T3 conversion). These reactions are catalyzed by the deiodinases. The biologically active hormone, T3, eventually binds to intracellular TH receptors (TRs), TRα and TRβ, and initiate TH signaling, that is, regulation of target genes and other metabolic pathways. At least three families of transmembrane transporters, MCT, OATP, and LAT, facilitate the entry of TH into cells, which follow the gradient of free hormone between the extracellular fluid and the cytoplasm...

Pelvic endometriosis is a complex syndrome characterized by an estrogen-dependent chronic inflammatory process that affects primarily pelvic tissues, including the ovaries. It is caused when shed endometrial tissue travels retrograde into the lower abdominal cavity. Endometriosis is the most common cause of chronic pelvic pain in women and is associated with infertility. The underlying pathologic mechanisms in the intracavitary endometrium and extrauterine endometriotic tissue involve defectively programmed endometrial mesenchymal progenitor/stem cells...

This review provides the reader with current insights on testicular adrenal rest tumors (TARTs), a complication in male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). In recent studies, an overall TART prevalence of 40% (range, 14% to 89%) in classic patients with CAH is found. Reported differences are mainly caused by the method of detection and the selected patient population. Biochemically, histologically, and molecularly, TARTs exhibit particular adrenal characteristics and were therefore thought to originate from aberrant adrenal cells...