Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes最新文献

Background: One of the goals of the St. Vincent Declaration was to reduce serious complications of diabetes, including strokes. However, it remains uncertain whether this goal has been achieved.

Study aim: To evaluate the incidence of stroke in the diabetic population and its differences regarding sex, ethnicity, age, and region, to compare the incidence rate in people with and without diabetes, and to investigate time trends.

Materials and methods: A systematic review was conducted according to the guidelines for meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (the MOOSE group) and the PRISMA group guidelines.

Results: Nineteen of the 6.470 studies retrieved were included in the analysis. The incidence of stroke in the population with diabetes ranged from 238 per 100,000 person-years in Germany in 2014 to 1191 during the 1990s in the United Kingdom. The relative risk comparing people with diabetes to those without diabetes varied between 1.0 and 2.84 for total stroke, 1.0 and 3.7 for ischemic stroke, and 0.68 and 1.6 for hemorrhagic stroke. Differences between fatal and non-fatal stroke were significant, depending on the time period and the population. We found decreasing time trends in people with diabetes and stable incidence rates of stroke over time in people without diabetes.

Conclusion: The considerable differences between results can partly be explained by differences in study designs, statistical methods, definitions of stroke, and methods used to identify patients with diabetes. The lack of evidence arising from these differences ought to be rectified by new studies.

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is characterized by dysregulated, renin-independent aldosterone excess. Long perceived as rare, PA has emerged as one of the most common causes of secondary hypertension. Failure to recognize and treat PA results in cardiovascular and renal complications, through processes mediated by both direct target tissue insults and indirectly, by hypertension. PA spans a continuum of dysregulated aldosterone secretion, which is typically recognized in late stages after treatment-resistant hypertension and cardiovascular and/or renal complications develop. Determining the precise disease burden remains challenging due to heterogeneity in testing, arbitrary thresholds, and populations studied. This review summarizes the reports on PA prevalence among the general population and in specific high-risk subgroups, highlighting the impact of rigid versus permissive criteria on PA prevalence perception.

Current clinical guidelines from the US Endocrine Society state that adrenal venous sampling (AVS) may not be necessary in patients younger than 35 years with marked aldosteronism and a solitary adrenal adenoma on imaging. At the time when the guidelines were published, only one study supported the statement, a study that included 6 patients younger than 35 years, all of whom had unilateral adenoma on imaging and unilateral primary aldosteronism (PA), according to AVS. Since then, to our knowledge, four additional studies have been published that provide data on concordance between conventional imaging and AVS among patients younger than 35 years. In these studies, 7 of 66 patients with unilateral disease on imaging had bilateral disease, according to AVS. We find it, therefore, reasonable to conclude that imaging studies alone inaccurately predict laterality in a significant number of young patients with PA and that available data challenge the current clinical guidelines.

Drug-resistant arterial hypertension (RH) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, often due to overlooked underlying causes. Identification of such causes poses significant clinical challenges. In this setting, primary aldosteronism (PA) is a frequent cause of RH and its prevalence in RH patients is likely higher than 20%.The pathophysiological link between PA and the development and maintenance of RH involves target organ damage and the cellular and extracellular effects of aldosterone excess that promote pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic changes in the kidney and vasculature.The feasibility of adrenal vein sampling in PA patients with RH, and the clinical benefit achieved by adrenalectomy, further emphasize the need to implement systematic screening for this common form of secondary hypertension in the management of a high-risk population as RH patients.: We herein review the current knowledge of the factors that contribute to the RH phenotype with a focus on PA and discuss the issues regarding the screening for PA in this setting and the therapeutic approaches (surgical and medical) aimed at resolving RH caused by PA.

Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is recommended for subtyping primary aldosteronism (PA) to identify lateralized or bilateral sources of aldosterone excess, allowing for better decision-making in regard to medical or surgical management on a case-by-case basis. To date, no consensus exists on protocols to be used during AVS, especially concerning sampling techniques, the timing of sampling, and whether or not to use adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation. Interpretation criteria for selectivity, lateralization, and contralateral suppression vary from one expert center to another, with some favoring strict cut-offs to others being more permissive. Clinical and biochemical post-operative outcomes can also be influenced by AVS criteria utilized to indicate surgical therapy.In this review, we reanalyze studies on AVS highlighting the recent pathological findings of frequent micronodular hyperplasia adjacent to a dominant aldosteronoma (APA) overlapping with bilateral idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA) etiologies, as opposed to the less frequent unilateral single aldosteronoma. The variable expression of melanocortin type 2 receptors in the nodules and hyperplasia may explain the frequent discordance in lateralization ratios between unstimulated and ACTH- stimulated samples. We conclude that aldosterone values collected during simultaneous bilateral sampling, both at baseline and post-ACTH stimulation, are required to adequately evaluate selectivity, lateralization, and contralateral suppression during AVS, to better identify all patients with PA that can benefit from a surgical indication. Recommended cut-offs for each ratio are also presented.

The radiofrequency ablation (RFA) technique has been extensively used in the treatment of primary malignancies and metastases and has been recently deployed for the treatment of unilateral primary aldosteronism (PA) as an alternative to whole unilateral adrenalectomy.Current evidence comparing RFA with unilateral adrenalectomy in the treatment of PA so far has been variable, with studies being retrospective and small-scale, but it remains a very attractive option as a potentially less invasive treatment option compared to adrenalectomy.This review article describes the procedure, and provides evidence and the possible future direction of RFA in the treatment of unilateral PA.

Primary aldosteronism (PA), once considered a rare disease, is being increasingly recognized as an important cause of hypertension. It is associated with higher rates of cardiovascular complications compared to blood pressure-matched essential hypertension. Targeted treatments are available which can mitigate the excess cardiovascular risks and, in some cases, cure hypertension. Making a timely diagnosis of PA is, therefore, highly beneficial for patients. Furthermore, numerous studies from different parts of the world have found PA to be a relatively common disease that can affect patients in any stage of hypertension, regardless of their age or potassium levels. Despite this well-established data, the current rate of PA detection is appallingly low, much below its actual prevalence. This review explores the challenges that clinicians often face in diagnosing PA and offers strategies that may improve the detection of this potentially curable form of hypertension.

The initial isolation of adrenal steroids from large quantities of animal adrenals resulted in an amorphous fraction resistant to crystallization and identification and had potent effects on electrolyte transport. Aldosterone was eventually isolated and identified in the fraction and was soon shown to cause hypertension when in excess. The autonomous and excessive production of aldosterone, primary aldosteronism, is the most common cause of secondary hypertension. Aldosterone is metabolized in the liver and kidney, and its metabolites are conjugated with glucuronic acid for excretion. The most common liver metabolite is 3α,5β-tetrahydroaldosterone-3-glucuronide, while that of the kidney is aldosterone-18-oxo-glucuronide. In terms of their value, especially the aldosterone-18-oxo-glucuronide, is commonly used for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism because they provide an integrated value of the total daily production of aldosterone. Conversion of aldosterone to 18-oxo-glucuronide is impeded by drugs, like some common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that compete for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase-2B7, the most important glucuronosyltransferase for aldosterone metabolism. Tetrahydroaldosterone is the most abundant metabolite and the most reliable for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism, but it is not commonly measured.

Over the past two years, the outbreak of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has centralized the interest of the health care systems and the scientific world. The majority of COVID-19-infected individuals recover fully. However, about 12-50% of patients experience various mid- and long-term effects after recovering from the initial illness. These mid- and long-term effects are collectively known as post-COVID-19 condition or 'long-COVID'. In the coming months, the long-term consequences of COVID-19 on the metabolic and endocrine systems may expect to rise and pose a global healthcare challenge. This review article discusses the possible metabolic and endocrine complications of long-COVID and the relevant research findings.