ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Female sex steroids play considerable roles in body weight and insulin physiology.\r\nEnhanced or reduced female sex steroids affect insulin sensitivity.\r\nThe aim of the present study was to examine the effects of female sex steroids on body\r\nweight and insulin sensitivity through ovariectomy and progesterone or estradiol\r\nadministration in rats.\r\nMaterials and Methods. 7 week old female albino (Wistar) rats were used in our study.\r\nAnimals were randomly divided into control, uni-ovariectomised, bi-ovariectomised, sham,\r\nvehicle receiving sham and vehicle or hormone receiving female groups. Progesterone (20\r\nmg/kg/day) or estradiol valerate (200 &#956;g/kg/day) were injected subcutaneously, starting on the\r\nthird day after surgery and continued at daily intervals. After 4 weeks, animals were measured\r\nfor body weight and killed. Following serum collection, fasting serum insulin and glucose were\r\nmeasured and fasting glucose to insulin ratio was considered as index of insulin sensitivity\r\nwhich were compared statistically between the groups.\r\nThe results showed increased insulin sensitivity (glucose to insulin ratio) (IS) and body\r\nweight (BW) in both bi-ovariectomised (bi-ovx) (IS=14.76, BW=237.40 g) and uniovariectomised\r\n(IS=11.33, BW=225.53) rats compared with the control group (IS=9.36,\r\nBW=205.32) (p<0.01). Progesterone or estradiol replacement in bi-ovx rats was followed by\r\nincreased or decreased body weight (264.50 or 205.10) and increased or decreased insulin\r\nsensitivity (20.38 or 8.50) compared with bi-ovx rats, respectively (p<0.05). In nonovariectomised\r\nrats, administration of progesterone resulted in increased and of estradiol in\r\ndecreased body weight (220.6 g and 185.35 g) and insulin sensitivity (18.36 and 5.35)\r\ncompared with control animals (p<0.01).\r\nConclusively, our findings indicate that progesterone is enhancer and estradiol is reducer\r\nof insulin sensitivity in rats. In addition, weight gain after ovariectomy or progesterone\r\ntreatment and weight loss following estradiol treatment did not probably contribute in acting on\r\ninsulin sensitivity.

Aim. To establish a nomogram combining preoperative ultrasonic and clinical features for predicting lymph nodes posterior to the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (LN-prRLN) metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. Methods. Preoperative ultrasonic and clinical variables of patients with PTC from 2014 to 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The risk factors associated with LN-prRLN metastasis were identified and validated through a developed nomogram model based on univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results. A total of 615 patients (690 lesions) were enrolled for the training dataset and 207 patients (226 lesions) for the validation dataset with 54 (6.57%) patients developing LN-prRLN metastasis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the preoperative ultrasound measurement of larger tumors (≥20 mm), higher TI-RADS category (category 5), and higher thyroglobulin level (9.86 ng/mL) in patients with PTC were predictive factors for LN-prRLN metastasis. The nomogram model was established and verified yielding a relatively good predictive performance in the training and validation dataset (AUC: 0.868 vs. 0.851). Conclusions. The nomogram combining preoperative ultrasonography with clinical features in this study is highly predictive of LN-prRLN metastasis in patients with PTC, which may provide more personalized recommendations for clinicians in preoperative decisionmaking for complete dissection of LN-prRLN.

Objective. To investigate the correlation between serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] and the visceral fat area of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the context of different bone mass. Materials and Methods. A total of 180 patients with T2DM were randomly selected for bone mineral density (BMD) examination. According to the results, they were divided into three groups: T2DM normal bone group (group A); T2DM bone mass reduction group (group B); T2DM osteoporosis group (group C). Result. Serum 25(OH)D levels in NC group, A group, B group and C group decreased in turn, and Visceral fat area (VFA) in group B and group C were significantly higher than those in group A and NC [(29.41±4.87) vs. (22.76±4.23) vs. (17.78±3.61) vs. (9.70±3.01), P<0.05], [(117.76±38.79), (125.08±37.90) vs. (89.79±26.51), (97.53±28.61), P<0.05]. Pearson correlation analysis showed that L1-L4 lumbar vertebrae bone density was positively correlated with 25(OH)D and VFA; left femoral neck bone density was positively correlated with 25(OH)D, and negatively correlated with VFA. Conclusion. Serum 25(OH)D and VFA may be associated with the development of T2DM combined with OP.

No inheritance of early-onset female-related type 2 diabetes was reported within Chinese families. In this study, we aim to describe the inheritance pattern of type 2 diabetes in a 3-generation family and identify the gene responsible for type 2 diabetes. Genome-wide multipoint parametric linkage analysis revealed a maximum multipoint logarithm of odds (lod) score of 2.1 for a locus being associated with type 2 diabetes in this family on chromosome 20p11.2-12 between 23.5~30.8cM. Type 2 diabetes may be transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait with a high female-related penetrance in this family. Here we describe the first genetic locus for type 2 diabetes at chromosome 20p11.2-12. This region contains 8 known or predicted genes (PLCB1, PLCB4, LAMP5, PAK7, ANKEF1, SNAP25, SLX4IP, and JAG1). Gene SNAP25 which linked to energy or glucose homeostasis associated phenotypes may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes in this family.

Background. Thyroid nodules are common; however, the association of two or more different tumors in the thyroid gland is unusual. We present a first case with the association of three histological types of thryroid tumors. To the best of our knowledge, this association has not been reported in the literature before. We aim here to highlight the possible coexistence of many lesions in the thyroid gland and to discuss treatment options. Case presentation. We report the case of a female patient who presented with a multinodular goiter. The final pathology after total thyroidectomy found the association of a multifocal papillary thyroid microcarcinoma arising within a Hurthle cells adenoma in a lobe and a noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary nuclear features in the other lobe. Due to the very low risk of recurrence, the patient was not treated with radioactive iodine. Conclusions. Many controversies remain about the management of Hurthle cells tumors and many variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma. Although the management of our case did not change, more studies are necessary to analyze the evolution of patients with multiple thyroid neoplasms. When discussing therapeutic options, the advantages and disadvantages should be considered case by case based on disease staging.

Objective. To describe the correlations between serum 25(OH) vitamin D and anthropometric and metabolic parameters in adult outpatients of both sexes with different BMI coming from an urban community. Subjects and Methods. 264 subjects referred for obesity assessment participated – 109 men and 155 women (20-60 years). Body weight and height, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure were recorded. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance (BIA) on a Tanita BC 420 MA analyzer (Tanita Inc., Japan). Serum 25(OH)D Total, Insulin, High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, blood glucose, total, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were measured. The insulin resistance index was calculated (HOMA-IR). Participants with BMI>25.0 kg/m2 underwent standard 75 g OGTT. Statistical analysis was performed on an IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0 for Windows platform (Chicago, IL). Results. Normal weight was found in 27.2 % of the participants, 24.6 % had overweight, 29.2 % -class I obesity, and 18.9 % – class II or III. Vitamin D was weakly and inversely correlated to different variables in the whole group – such as weight, WC, WC/Height, % body fat and HOMA-IR index (r=-0.231, -0.283, -0.307, -0.339, -0.328 respectively, all p<0.001). Building subgroups based on BMI led to loss of significance. Backward analysis revealed Total-C/LDL-C ratio, and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio as strongest predictors of serum vitamin D (p=0.001; R2=0.204). Conclusion. The association of vitamin D with blood pressure, plasma lipids, glucose and insulin is very weak on an individual level. However, several obesity indices (WC, WC/height ratio, % Body fat from BIA) might be used as a screening tool for subjects at risk for vitamin D deficiency.

-

Aim. To evaluate the diagnostic performance of radiomics features of two-dimensional (2D) and threedimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) in predicting extrathyroidal extension (ETE) status in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Patients and Methods. 2D and 3D thyroid ultrasound images of 72 PTC patients confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were assigned to ETE and non-ETE. The regions of interest (ROIs) were obtained manually. From these images, a larger number of radiomic features were automatically extracted. Lastly, the diagnostic abilities of the radiomics models and a radiologist were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. We extracted 1693 texture features firstly. Results. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the radiologist was 0.65. For 2D US, the mean AUC of the three classifiers separately were: 0.744 for logistic regression (LR), 0.694 for multilayer perceptron (MLP), 0.733 for support vector machines (SVM). For 3D US they were 0.876 for LR, 0.825 for MLP, 0.867 for SVM. The diagnostic efficiency of the radiomics was better than radiologist. The LR model had favorable discriminate performance with higher area under the curve. Conclusion. Radiomics based on US image had the potential to preoperatively predict ETE. Radiomics based on 3D US images presented more advantages over radiomics based on 2D US images and radiologist.

Various clinical and experimental studies indicate that gonadal hormones exert\r\nmodulatory effects on nociception and analgesia.\r\nThe aim of the present study was to investigate the role of gonadal hormones in the\r\nresponse by male and female rats to thermal nociceptive stimulation.\r\nMaterials and Methods. 7 week old albino (Wistar) rats were used in our study.\r\nAnimals were randomly divided into control, sham and ovariectomised or orchidectomised\r\ngroups. Thermal pain threshold was measured through tail immersion test before and 10, 20\r\nor 40 days after gonadectomy. The pain threshold was measured as the time required to elicit\r\na flick of the tail called analgesia time. Serum testosterone, estradiol, progesterone or\r\nprolactin levels were measured simultaneously.\r\nThe results showed that analgesia time was higher in female (5.11 min) than in male\r\n(4.93 min) intact animals (p<0.05) indicating sex difference in response to thermal\r\nnociception. Serum testosterone, estradiol or progesterone level as well as analgesia time\r\nwere not significantly reduced 10 days after gondectomy. In male animals, analgesia time\r\nwas significantly decreased (p<0.01) 20 or 40 days after orchidectomy (2.25 or 2.14 min,\r\nrespectively) compared with control rats (4.93 min). Serum testosterone concentration was\r\nsignificantly reduced (p<0.05) 20 or 40 days after orchidectomy (0.08 or 0.09 ng/mL,\r\nrespectively) compared with control serum testosterone level (2.14 ng/mL). In female rats,\r\nanalgesia time was significantly decreased (p<0.001) 20 or 40 days after ovariectomy (2.87\r\nor 2.66 min, respectively) compared with control rats (5.11 min). Serum estradiol\r\nconcentration was significantly reduced (p<0.001) 20 or 40 days after ovariectomy (3.17 or\r\n0.87 ng/mL, respectively) compared with control serum estradiol level (19.95 ng/ml). Serum\r\nprogesterone level was also decreased (p<0.001) 20 or 40 days after orchidectomy (5.27 or\r\n0.55 ng/mL, respectively) compared with control serum estradiol level (17.66 ng/mL).\r\nSerum prolactin level was not significantly enhanced during experiment indicating that there\r\nwas not heat stress influencing the procedure.\r\nConclusively, our findings clearly indicate that depletion of gonadal hormones 20 or 40 days\r\nafter gonadectomy modulates the pain-induced behavioral responses related to thermal nociception.

Context and objective. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced under oxidative stress is important for osteoclastogenesis. As a major member of the metallothionein (MT) family, metallothionein2 (MT2) can scavenge ROS in osteoblasts. However, the role of MT2 in osteoclastogenesis and ROS production in osteoclast precursors (OCPs) is unknown. Material and methods. In this study, we first investigated MT2 expression level in osteoporotic model mice. Next, we explored the roles of MT2 in osteoclastic differentiation and ROS production in OCPs. Ultimately, via rescue assays based on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the significance of ROS in MT-2-regulated osteoclastic differentiation was further elucidated. Results. Compared with sham operated (Sham) mice, ovariectomized (OVX) mice displayed bone marrow primary OCPs (Ly6C+CD11b-) having higher ROS levels and lower MT2 expression. MT2 overexpression inhibited the formation of mature osteoclasts, while MT2 knockdown was contrary. Moreover, MT2 overexpression inhibited ROS production in OCPs, while MT2 knockdown exhibited the opposite effects. Notably, the inhibitory effect of MT2 overexpression on osteoclastogenesis and ROS production was blocked by the addition of H2O2. Conclusion. MT2 inhibits osteoclastogenesis through repressing ROS production in OCPs, which indicates that the strategy of upregulating MT2 in OCPs may be applied to the clinical treatment of osteoclastic bone loss.