Journal of Endocrinological Investigation最新文献

Purpose: Sodium is essential to life. However, its dietary excess is detrimental to the cardiovascular system, and sodium restriction is a crucial step in cardiovascular prevention. Iodine deficiency has been fought worldwide for decades, and substantial success has been achieved introducing the use of iodine-enriched salt. Nevertheless, areas of iodine deficiency persist around the world, both in developing and industrialized countries, and a major concern affecting dietary sodium reduction programs is represented by a possible iodine intake deficiency. There are substantial differences in the source of alimentary iodine among countries, such as iodized salt added, household tap water, seafood, or salt employed in packaged food. It is clear that a sodium-restricted diet can induce differences in terms of iodine intake, depending on the country considered. Moreover, iodine status has undergone relevant changes in many countries in the last years.

Methods: Systematic review of literature evidence about the possible effects of sodium restriction on population iodine status.

Results: To date, the available results are conflicting, depending on country, salt iodization policy, as well as time frame of data collection. However, to ensure an optimal iodine supply by salt fortification, without exceeding the current recommendation by World Health Organization for salt intake, seems to be an achievable goal.

Conclusion: A balanced approach may be obtained by an adequate iodine concentration in fortified salt and by promoting the availability of iodized salt for household consumption and food industry use. In this scenario, updated prospective studies are strongly needed.

Purpose: Osteocalcin (OC), an osteoblast-derived regulator of metabolic processes, and circulating early endothelial progenitor cells (EPC, CD34 - /CD133 + /KDR +) expressing OC (OC +) are potential candidates linking bone metabolism and the vasculature and might be involved in vascular atherosclerotic calcification. This study aimed at assessing the association of circulating levels of different OC forms and of EPCs count with disease severity in patients with documented coronary atherosclerosis (CAD).

Methods: Patients (n = 59) undergoing coronary angiography were divided, according to stenosis severity, into (1) early coronary atherosclerosis (ECA) (n = 22), and (2) late coronary atherosclerosis (LCA) (n = 37). Total OC (TOC), carboxylated OC (cOC), undercarboxylated OC (unOC) were quantified by ELISA. EPC OC + count was assessed by flow cytometry.

Results: EPC OC + counts showed significant differences between ECA and LCA groups. unOC and unOC/TOC ratio were inversely correlated with EPC OC + count. A significant decrease in TOC and unOC plasma levels was associated with higher cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) number. EPC OC + count was correlated with LDL-C, total cholesterol, and triglycerides, with a greater significance in the LCA group. No association between the different forms of circulating OC (TOC, ucOC, cOC) and severity of CAD was found.

Conclusion: This study showed a significant association between EPCs (CD34 - /CD133 + /KDR + /OC +), CAD severity and CVRFs, suggesting an active role for EPC OC + in the development of CAD. An inverse correlation between TOC, ucOC, and number of CVRFs was observed, suggesting that OC, regardless of its carboxylation status, may be developed as a further cardiovascular risk biomarker.

Background: Stress and sleep disturbance have been found to be associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including cancer. Our study aimed to measure the association between quality of sleep, short-temperedness, and stress in life with the risk of thyroid cancer.

Methods: The present study is conducted on 361 newly diagnosed TC patients and 347 sex-age frequency matched controls. Control and case participants were registered with the same health centers. We used multiple logistic regression to investigate the association between TC risk and the interested factors.

Results: Based on the results of the multivariate analysis, stress (OR_{always stressful/often calm} = 3.07, 95% CI 1.42-6.63) and short-temperedness (OR_nervous/calm = 2.00, 95% CI 1.28-3.11) were directly associated with the risk of TC. On the other hand having a quality sleep (OR_{sometimes/never} = 0.36, 95% CI 0.16-0.79) and quality sleep (OR_often/no = 0.45, 95% CI 0.21-0.96, P = 0.041) seems to be a protective factor.

Conclusions: Some community-based interventions, e.g., lowering stress levels and improving sleep quality, may help in preventing different types of cancer, including TC. We suggest further evaluation of these important findings in the prevention of TC cancer.

Background: Following the conventional 12-18 month antithyroid drug (ATD) treatment in Graves' disease (GD), 50% of patients experience relapse of hyperthyroidism.

Objective: The aim of this systematic scoping review was critical appraisal of duration of ATD therapy in the last 80 years.

Methods: Articles were identified through the search of PubMed from January 1, 1941 to April 30, 2021. All study types were included. Articles were eligible if they reported data on the length of ATD treatment, particularly thyroid hormones and TSH receptor antibodies (TRAb) concentrations and specifically those with data on the remission and/or relapse rates.

Results: We described major progress regarding the duration of ATD therapy and related outcomes at every 20 years. Articles of 1941-1960 were mainly concerned with determination of favorable treatment, minimal effective dose, side effects and rate of remission after < 12-month ATD therapy. Studies with larger number of patients and longer follow-ups appeared in 1961-1980; higher remission rate after 18-24 months versus 6 months of ATD therapy was reported. Articles of 1981-2000 focused on identification of factors associated with high relapse rates after discontinuation of ATD. In 2001-2021, ATD became the first choice of treatment in many countries. However, 12-18 months of ATD therapy was arbitrarily chosen as the appropriate option. According to recent studies, persistent normalization of TRAb occurs after 5 years of methimazole therapy and ATD treatment of > 60 months could offer a 4-year remission rate of 85%.

Conclusion: Long-term ATD treatment for more than 60 months is safe and effective, has the highest remission rate and cures most patients with GD; hence, it should be considered as the most appropriate duration for ATD therapy in these patients.

Human body is colonized by trillions of microbes, influenced by several factors, both endogenous, as hormones and circadian regulation, and exogenous as, life-style habits and nutrition. The alteration of such factors can lead to microbial dysbiosis, a phenomenon which, in turn, represents a risk factor in many different pathologies including cancer, diabetes, autoimmune and cardiovascular disease, and infertility. Female microbiota dysbiosis (vaginal, endometrial, placental) and male microbiota dysbiosis (seminal fluid) can influence the fertility, determining a detrimental impact on various conditions, as pre-term birth, neonatal illnesses, and macroscopic sperm parameters impairments. Furthermore, unprotected sexual intercourse creates a bacterial exchange between partners, and, in addition, each partner can influence the microbiota composition of partner's reproductive tracts. This comprehensive overview of the effects of bacterial dysbiosis in both sexes and how partners might influence each other will allow for better personalization of infertility management.