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Adrenal tumors, such as adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), adrenocortical adenoma (ACA), and pheochromocytoma (PCC) are complex diseases with unclear causes and treatments. Mitochondria and mitochondrial-derived peptides (MDPs) are crucial for cancer cell survival. The primary aim of this study was to analyze samples from different adrenal diseases, adrenocortical carcinoma, adrenocortical adenoma, and pheochromocytoma, and compare them with normal adrenal tissue to determine whether the expression levels of the mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA type-c (MOTS-c) gene and protein vary between different types of adrenal tumors compared to healthy controls using qPCR, ELISA, and IHC methods. Results showed decreased MOTS-c mRNA expression in all adrenal tumors compared to controls, while serum MOTS-c protein levels increased in ACA and PCC but not in ACC. The local distribution of MOTS-c protein in adrenal tissue was reduced in all tumors. Notably, MOTS-c protein expression declined with ACC progression (stages III and IV) but was unrelated to patient age or sex. Tumor size and testosterone levels positively correlated with MOTS-c mRNA but negatively with serum MOTS-c protein. Additionally, serum MOTS-c protein correlated positively with glucose, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and SHGB levels. These findings suggest disrupted expression of MOTS-c in the spectrum of adrenal diseases, which might be caused by mechanisms involving increased mitochondrial dysfunction and structural changes in the tissue associated with disease progression. This study provides a detailed examination of MOTS-c mRNA and protein in adrenal tumors, indicating the potential role of MDPs in tumor biology and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic significance of leptin receptor isoforms in adrenal tumors. In a single-center study, 96 patients (19 with adrenal cortical carcinoma and 77 with benign tumors) underwent an adrenalectomy. A total of 14 unaffected adrenal gland tissues from kidney donors were used as controls. Fasting blood samples were collected for laboratory tests, and mRNA expressions of leptin receptor isoforms were assessed by RT-qPCR. The study analyzed correlations between mRNA expressions and clinical data and measured NCI-H295R cell proliferation via a real-time cell analyzer. All adrenal lesions expressed leptin receptor isoforms. Significantly lower LepR1 expression was observed in carcinoma tissues than in adenomas and controls (p = 0.016). Expressions of LepR3&LepR6 were correlated with overall survival (p = 0.036), while LepR2&LepR4 and LepR5 expressions were inversely related to morning serum cortisol levels (p = 0.041). Leptin reduced NCI-H295R cell proliferation (p < 0.0001). The study highlights the diagnostic and prognostic significance of leptin receptor isoforms in adrenal tumors. Specifically, LepR1 may serve as a diagnostic marker for carcinomas, while LepR3&LepR6 have potential use as prognostic markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It has been reported that patients experiencing side effects of amiodarone (AM) therapy, such as amiodarone-induced thyrotoxocosis (AIT) or amiodarone-induced hypothyroidism (AIH), have changes in serum concentrations of anti-TSH receptor (TSHR), antithyroglobulin (Tg), and antiperoxidase (TPO) autoantibodies (Abs). The purpose of our study was to identify and analyze the changes in levels of listed antibodies in patients with several thyroid disorders., Methods: 280 patients from two centers in Poland were included. Titers of TSHR-Abs, TPO-Abs and Tg-Abs were analyzed retrospectively in the following groups of patients: A - euthyroid patients with a history of hyperthyroidism prior to re-administration of AM; B - patients with AIT who discontinued the AM therapy; C - patients with AIT chronically treated with AM; D - hypothyroid patients., Results: Serum Tg-Abs were not elevated in any of the studied groups. However, there were significant differences between A and B and also D and other groups (p<0.05). TPO-Abs titers were not elevated in most cases, there were no significant differences between groups. The serum titers of TSHR-Abs were not elevated in any group. We found statistically significant differences between B and D, C and other groups (p<0.05)., Conclusions: Regardless of the statistically significant differences observed for Tg-Abs and TSHR-Abs levels, this observation have a limited clinical applicability. In almost all cases we observed normal to slightly increased titers of TPO-Abs, Tg-Abs, TSHR-Abs. Discontinuation or continuation of AM therapy had no influence on autoantibody titers. Furthermore, we found it impossible to differentiate between the type I and II of AIT based on autoantibody titers.

Transsexuals have to face multiple medical, social and bureaucratic problems. These problems are not only encountered before the transformation, but also during and after medical procedures. In the search for improvement of transsexual individuals' quality of life during therapy, it seems desirable to supplement hormonal treatments with psychological explorations. This study was conducted with the aim of defining emotional conditions and included 28 transsexual female-to-male (F/M) patients and two gender-divided control groups (males and females) of similar age. The following psychometric scales were used: CECS (Courtauld Emotional Control Scale constructed by M. Watson and S. Greer in the Polish Adaptation by Z. Juczyński), ISCL (the Polish Adaptation of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults by T. Sosnowski), and GSES (the Polish Adaptation of the R. Schwarzer, M. Jerusalem Generalized Self-Efficacy Scaleby Z. Juczyński and K. Wrześniewski). Transsexual F/M patients appeared very similar to males in the male control group in terms of their subjective selfefficacy and state-trait anxiety, while their subjective belief of anxiety and fear control was more comparable to that of the female controls. It was also found to be statistically significantly lower than in the male controls.

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders found in women of reproductive age. Differences in hormonal and metabolic profiles are observed in groups of patients with normal and elevated BMI. Cause of disturbances observed in the two groups of patients with PCOS is analyzed. The aim of the study is to assess whether psychological parameters of lean and obese patients with PCOS are comparably significantly different and whether there is a correlation between these characteristics and the concentration of various hormones., Participants and Procedures: The study consisted of 20 patients with diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome and 20 healthy women of similar age. Both groups were stratified according to BMI. Specific psychological parameters and hormones were estimated in all patients., Results: In our study, we found that patients with BMI <25 represented personality traits associated with lower resistance to stress. We also observed significantly higher ACTH levels in the same group as compared to patients with BMI >25. A correlation between plasma ghrelin and the severity of anxiety experienced by test subjects was also observed., Conclusion: The type of personality and emotional disorders in lean PCOS patients may lead to the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and disturbences in hypothalamic-pituitary-ovary (HPO) axis. The results suggest participation of primary hypothalamic dysfunction in the pathogenesis of PCOS in patients with specific fenotype. Ghrelin is a hormone that may affect the symptoms of PCOS in lean patients. Psychological therapy should be considered as a permanent element in the therapeutic plan provided to PCOS patients.

Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor. It is mainly secreted by stomach cells but has also been shown to be present in the hypothalamus, pituitary, gonads and many other organs. Ghrelin is a regulator of energy homeostasis and GH secretion. Many studies have been done examining the influence of ghrelin on different organs. Ghrelin may play an important role in pathophysiology of some endocrine diseases. The relationship between ghrelin and pituitary, gonads and thyroid function appears to be specially interesting.

Unlabelled: It is unknown if altered ghrelin secretion might contribute to the development of metabolic complications in acromegaly. The AIM OF THE STUDY was to: 1) assess if serum concentrations of total and acylated ghrelin in patients with acromegaly differ in the presence of various metabolic complications (hypercholesterolemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglicemia). 2) assess the correlations between concentrations of ghrelin and concentrations of GH, IGF-1, cholesterol, insulin and glucose in patients with acromegaly., Materials: 24 patients with previously diagnosed acromegaly (11 subjects with active and 13 subjects with inactive disease) and 12 healthy subjects. 23 subjects were treated in the past with neurosurgery, 3 subjects with radiotherapy. 7 patients were receiving octreotide LAR at the time of the study., Methods: In all studied subjects the concentrations of total ghrelin, acylated ghrelin, GH, IGF-1, insulin, glucose, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglicerydes, were measured., Results: The concentrations of total and acylated ghrelin did not significantly differ between patients with active and inactive disease. The mean concentrations of total and acylated ghrelin were significantly higher in acromegalic patients who presented with hypercholesterolemia compared with patients with normocholesterolemia. In patients with hypercholesterolemia the ratio of acylated/total ghrelin was 16%. In patients with active acromegaly there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the concentration of total ghrelin and the concentration of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. There was also a positive correlation between the concentration of acylated ghrelin and LDL cholesterol (without statistical significance). In patients with inactive acromegaly there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the concentration of acylated ghrelin and the concentration of triglycerides and a positive correlation between total ghrelin and triglycerides, but statistically insignificant. There were no differences in ghrelin levels depending on the insulin and glucose concentrations., Conclusions: Some metabolic complications of the disease might result not only from GH hypersecretion but also from altered ghrelin secretion.

Objectives: Very little is still known about ghrelin in cases of GH hypersecretion. We decided to evaluate whether ghrelin concentrations in acromegalic patients differ according to the administered therapy (surgical and/or with long acting octreotide). We wanted to assess the correlation between serum ghrelin levels and 1) the treatment applied in the past or being applied at the time of our study 2) GH, IGF-1 and insulin concentrations., Material: Serum ghrelin, GH, IGF-1 and insulin were measured in 42 acromegalic patients who had received surgical and/or long acting octreotide therapy or who hadn't receive any treatment at all. According to the applied treatment, we divided the patients into groups, as follows: 1) LAO/+/, surgery /-/, 2) LAO /+/, surgery /+/, 3) LAO /-/, surgery /-/, 4) LAO /-/, surgery /+/. Ghrelin was also evaluated in 18 control healthy subjects., Results: The difference between mean ghrelin level in the healthy subjects and acromegalic patients was not statistically significant (p=0.08). LAO /-/, surgery /-/ patients showed fasting ghrelin levels indistinguishable from those seen in healthy subjects (p=0.1). There wasn't any statistically significant difference between LAO /-/, surgery /-/ patients and LAO /-/, surgery /+/ group (p=0.14). Serum ghrelin levels in LAO /+/, surgery /+/ group were significantly lower from those observed in LAO /-/, surgery /+/ patients (p=0.006). A similar reduction in ghrelin levels was also found in patients LAO /+/ (both after and without surgery) compared to LAO /-/ patients (both after or without surgery) (p=0.001). Serum ghrelin levels showed a significant negative correlation with IGF-1 concentration and a tendency to a statistically significant correlation with GH in LAO /-/ group (p<0,05)., Conclusions: Ghrelin concentrations were significantly lower in acromegalic patients who had been receiving long acting somatostatin analogue treatment; there was no significant difference in serum ghrelin levels between patients who had and who had not undergone surgery. A significant negative correlation between ghrelin and IGF-1 and a tendency to such correlation between ghrelin and GH was observed in LAO /-/ group of patients.

Ghrelin is one of the peptides involved into GH-release, binding to specific GHS receptors on hypothalamus and pituitary. The ghrelin peptide and ghrelin mRNA have been detected in several regions of hypothalamus, in normal pituitary, as well as in various types of pituitary adenoma, with different levels of expression in different tumour types. We decided to determine the expression of ghrelin in somatotroph adenomas. Human pituitary somatotroph adenoma tissues were obtained at the time of transsphenoidal surgery from 3 acromegalic patients and studied for ghrelin mRNA expression. Before surgery each patient received a somatostatin analogue treatment at doses 20 mg, 30 mg, 30 mg at 30 days intervals. 20 mg of each tissue sample was used for the isolation of total cellular RNA. The reverse transcription and real-time PCR were performed according to Korbonits et al. method. The reverse transcription of total RNA to cDNA was performed using Super Script TM Rnase H RT kit according to manufacturer protocol. We wished to determine the number of copies of ghrelin gene within the single cell. We used the beta-actin, and the GAPDH genes as a reference molecules for standard curve calculation. Ghrelin mRNA was not detected in any examined tissues. We postulate that the absence of the ghrelin gene transcript is mainly due to the treatment with somatostatin analogues administered preoperatively, which could have suppressed the ghrelin gene transcription.