ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Context. The inflammatory disorders of the urinary bladder represent one of the most frequent disorders associated with hormonal unbalances caused by menopause. The involvement of estrogens and mast cells in this complex mechanism mediated by neuro-hormonal pathway is well known, but the pathogenesis through which the hormonal deprivation is affecting the Estrogen Receptor expression and is predisposing to urinary bladder inflammatory changes is still argued. Objective. To determine the structural changes associated with surgically induced menopause, and the effect of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) in the urinary bladder morphology, mast cell population and Estrogen Receptor (ERα) expression. Subjects and methods. The effect of ovariectomy and ERT was monitored by quantifying the number of mast cells and the structural changes that the urinary bladder suffers. By immunohistochemistry we assessed the changes of the Estrogen Receptor Alpha (ERα) expression in the urothelium and detrusor muscle. The study was carried out on ovariectomised female rats over a period of 42 days. Results. The main alterations associated with the hormonal deprivation were represented by the growth in number of the bladder mast cells, atrophy of the urothelium and amplification of the expression of ERα from the urothelium, but not from the detrusor muscle. ERT significantly decreased the tissue expression for ERα, reduced the severity of bladder atrophy and the number of mast cells. Conclusions. The estrogenic hormonal substitution can diminish the severity of the atrophic, inflammatory and ERα changes in bladder disorders associated with ovarectomy in rat.

Aim. The aim of this study is to present the personal experience of the authors regarding the use of positron emission tomography-computer tomography fusion image (PET/CT), with 18Ffluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG), in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC).\r\nPatients and Methods. Twenty seven cases of DTC admitted and treated in the “Prof. Ion Chiricu??” Institute of Oncology Cluj-Napoca (IOCN), performed PET/CT investigation\r\nbetween 2007 and 2009, in DOTE Centre Debrecen (Hungary) and Pozitron Center Oradea (Romania). The patients underwent the surgical intervention and had histology of differentiated carcinoma; they received radioiodine therapy with I-131, had suppression therapy with thyroid hormones and had in the follow-up whole body scans (WBS) with I-131, neck ultrasound and serological determination of thyroglobulin (Tg) and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-Tg). All patients were referred to PET/CT after radical treatment, after a negative WBS I-131 and a dynamic increase of the serological level of Tg or anti-Tg, without any clinical signs of\r\nrecurrence and no neck ultrasound pathological findings.\r\nResults. All patients included in this study presented abnormal levels of Tg: between 2.76 ng/ml and 4173 ng/ml, with a median value of 43.15 ng/ml. In 23 cases (85.1%) the PET/CT results revealed the neoplasm recurrence, in 3 cases we obtained true negative results and in 1 case a false negative image; in 2 cases (7.4%) we found a second malignancy. All patients needed to change the treatment strategies.\r\nConclusion. The significant increase of the number of DTC and the more aggressive behaviour of the disease in some situations, determines the existence of a clear strategy of\r\ntreatment and monitoring, where the role of PET/CT is well defined.

Introduction. There is increasing evidence that 5’ adenosine monophosphateactivated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway plays a role in bone physiology. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a drug activating AMPK, namely metformin, on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in the rat. Methods. The present study was conducted on 40 female Wistar albino rats that were divided into 4 groups of 10 rats each, Group I: sham operated, Group II: non-treated ovarictomized (OVX) rats, while groups III and IV were OVX rats treated with metformin and metformin plus a substance that inhibits AMPK, namely compound C, respectively. At the end of the experimental period, urine and blood samples were collected and used for determination of urinary deoxypyridinoline (DPD) serum: osteocalcin, calcium and phosphorus concentrations and serum alkaline phosphatase activity. Biochemical assessment of AMPK activity in isolated fourth lumbar vertebrae (LV4) was carried out. The tibia, left femur and third lumbar vertebrae (LV3) were weighed and biomechanical study on LV3 was carried out. Immune histochemical studies of right femur and the forth-lumbar vertebrae (LV4) were carried out using anti-Fas antibodies to detect apoptotic osteoclastic and osteoblastic cells. Evaluation of cortical bone morphometric indices was done by CT-Scanning technique. Results. The results of the present study demonstrated that metfromin protected against biochemical, histological, biomechanical and histomorphometric osteoporotic changes. Compound C, an inhibitor of AMPK, blocked metformininduced changes in assessed parameters suggesting that the effect of metformin was mediated mainly through activation of AMPK. Conclusions. Drugs modulating AMPK could be effective in ameliorating OVX-induced osteoporotic changes.

Content. Metabolically healthy obese (MHO) individuals are characterized by absence of metabolic syndrome. The role of autonomic nervous system in metabolic profile of obese subjects has not been sufficiently investigated. Objective. We analyzed heart rate variability (HRV) in MHO and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) premenopausal women. Design. In 42 women metabolic profile was defined as MHO and MUO. Subjects and Methods. For metabolic profile Wildman, IDF and HOMA-IR criteria were used. Autonomic nervous system activity was assessed by analysis of heart rate variability. Results. There was no significant difference in HRV between MHO and MUO premenopausal women. In Wildman division, after adjustment for systolic blood pressure, RRNN and LF/HF were statistically different between groups (p=0.0001; p=0.029). In IDF division, adjusting for waist circumference, LF was significantly different between groups (p=0.004). In HOMA division, adjusting for HOMA, groups were different in SDNN (p=0.009), RMSSD (p=0.002), pNN50 (p=0.003), HF(p=0.002) and TP (p=0.005). Conclusions. Autonomic nervous system does not share the leading role in premenopausal women metabolic profile. The differences in HRV between MHO and MUO women depend on the metabolic health criteria. Systolic blood pressure, HOMA and waist circumference have significant effect on HRV differences between MHO and MUO premenopausal women.

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