Minerva Endocrinologica

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Very-low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) is a promising lifestyle intervention for the management of overweight and obesity. It is characterized by a restriction of both calories and carbohydrates, while assuring the adequate proteins, fats and micronutrients intake. Significant results in terms of excess body weight loss have been reported and this strategy considered also in the preoperative settings, accordingly. Improvements in hypertension, type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia follows. The present narrative review discusses available evidence and provides practical recommendations for the management of VLCKD...

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Hypovitaminosis D and obesity represent two pandemic conditions sometimes associated with each other. Although it is known that there is a close relationship between these two health problems, the underlying pathophysiological mechanism has not yet been fully clarified. In fact, on the one hand, obesity per se seems to involve low circulating levels of vitamin D due to low sun exposure, physical activity, and intake of foods rich in vitamin D, volumetric dilution and sequestration in the adipose tissue. Conversely, since pre-adipocytes and adipocytes express the receptors and are involved in the metabolism of vitamin D it would seem that low levels of this vitamin may be involved in adipogenesis and therefore in the development of obesity...

BACKGROUND: Circulation miRNAs have emerged as new biomarkers for identifying and monitoring the microvascular complications of diabetes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the levels of five candidate miRNAs (miR-29c-3p, miR-18a, miR-31, miR-181 and miR-20a) in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and their relationship with disease severity. METHODS: The study included 31 diabetes patients without DR (NDR group), 68 patients with DR (DR group) and 30 healthy controls (HC group)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a heterogeneous metabolic disorder in which genetic, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and environmental factors come together to produce insulin resistance in target tissues, leading to hyperglycaemia. Evidence reveals that inflammation may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of T2DM. Interleukin-18 (IL-18), a proinflammatory cytokine, plays a crucial role in the acute and chronic inflammatory process. The association of IL-18 levels with IL-18R expression in T2DM has not been investigated so far...

BACKGROUND: Sociosexual orientation (SO), muscle performance (MP), and disgust sensitivity (DS) play a crucial role in sexual life. Previous research reported a relationship between SO and muscle strength, but the association across these variables has not been fully investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the association between SO, MP, and DS. METHODS: Seventy-two subjects (age: 49.7 ± 13.7 years, 38 F) participated in the study. The SO, MP and DS were evaluated using a Sexual Attitude Scale (SAS), a revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), a body composition analysis, handgrip test (HG), a Standing Long jump test (SLJ), a Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) and Three Domains of Disgust scale (TDDS)...

BACKGROUND: Thyroid carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the world. Although the genetics of thyroid carcinoma was intensively studied, new mechanisms could be involved in its development as the codon bias. In this paper, we studied the codon bias of thyroid-cancer genes, considering not only the sequences but also the synonymous mutations. METHODS: Different measures and statistical analyses were employed to characterize the thyroidcancer genes. We considered classical measures as RSCU and ENC, the compositional and protein characteristics but also the codon bias landscape via the %MinMax algorithm...

Normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (NPHPT) is diagnosed in the setting of elevated PTH concentrations with consistently normal albumin-adjusted and ionized serum calcium levels, in absence of secondary causes for elevated PTH concentrations. In order to confirm persistence of the hyperparathyroid state, PTH levels should be elevated on at least two occasions over a 3 to 6 months period. The prevalence of NPHPT depends on the population studied. Data from different studies are often not comparable; indeed, different criteria have been used to exclude secondary hyperparathyroidism...

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder with well-established metabolic abnormalities. In the present study, untargeted metabolomics technology was applied to analyze the serum and follicular fluid samples from women with polycystic ovary syndrome and healthy controls using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). METHODS: 70 samples for PCOS analysis were collected in hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NMR was used as analytical technology and multivariate analysis was applied to analyze metabolomics difference in PCOS and healthy controls...

Multifocality is a common finding in papillary thyroid cancer but the molecular pathogenesis, prognosis and management of multifocal papillary thyroid cancer are debated. The clonal origin of multifocal papillary thyroid cancer represents a controversial aspect, as two opposite viewpoints have been proposed: independent origin or intraglandular spread. Different approaches have been used for inferring the clonality of multifocal papillary thyroid cancer, including X-chromosome inactivation, mutational analysis, determination of loss of heterozygosity, and more recently, nextgeneration sequencing...

AIMS: To evaluate insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis and their association with diabetes duration, control and chronic complications in patients with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: We studied medical records of 181 consecutive hospitalized adults patients with type 1 diabetes. Estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR), insulin sensitivity score (ISS), fatty liver index (FLI) and hepatic steatosis index (HSI) were calculated. RESULTS: Patients in the 1st tertile of eGDR (<4...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the difference between males and females regarding association between malnutrition risk and hypoglycemia. DESIGN: Sub-analysis of a cross-sectional study of newly admitted patients to internal medicine departments. METHODS: Malnutrition risk, assessed with Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002), and serum albumin were measured upon admission. Logistic regression was applied to men and women separately, to test the effect of malnutrition and hypoalbuminemia on incidence of hypoglycemia...

INTRODUCTION: Oxidative stress has been proposed as one of the factors concurring in the pathophysiology of autoimmune thyroid diseases. Reactive oxygen species are the main expression of oxidative stress in biological systems, and their production can overcome antioxidant defenses ultimately leading to cell damage, apoptosis, and death. The present review was aimed at describing the state of the art of the relationships between oxidative stress and autoimmune thyroiditis. The most used biomarkers of oxidative stress and their correlation with thyroid function are reported...

BACKGROUND: Despite the abundance of studies on the beneficial effects of a fiber rich diet as well as polyphenols deriving from Citrus fruits on postprandial serum glucose and insulin, clinical evidences on their synergic effects on healthy subjects have never been published. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of a new dietary approach in controlling glucose and insulin response at breakfast time by testing a brioche enriched with wheat bran and bergamot fiber. METHODS: We enrolled 11 healthy volunteers in a cross-over study...

INTRODUCTION: The concept of subclinical or compensated male hypogonadism (SHG), characterized by increased gonadotropins and normal testosterone levels is emerging. However, its real clinical significance is still conflicting. The aim of the present study is to summarize and discuss the available evidence related to the possible definition of SHG and the possible advantages of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive systematic Medline, Embase and Cochrane search was performed...

BACKGROUND: Multinodular goiter is a common disease in population. If only one thyroid lobe is affected, hemithyroidectomy may be preferred to reduce complication and hormone replacement therapy. However, completion thyroidectomy may be required later. The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of completion thyroidectomy in patients who develop nodules after hemithyroidectomy and we aimed to find the ratio of patients who required hormone replacement for permanent hypothyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The patients who underwent hemithyroidectomy for benign nodular goitre between January 2012 and June 2017 were analysed...

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is diabetes that is first diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy in patients who did not have a history of diabetes before pregnancy. Consequences of GDM include increased risk of macrosomia and birth complications in the infant and an increased risk of maternal type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after pregnancy. There is also a longer-term risk of obesity, T2DM, and cardiovascular diseases in the child. GDM is the result of impaired glucose tolerance due to pancreatic β-cell dysfunction on a background of insulin resistance that physiologically increases during pregnancy...