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Med Hypotheses 2021 Jun 5;153:110625. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Department of Nutrition Science, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, United States. Electronic address:

Several studies consistently showed vegans having a higher risk of bone fractures compared to individuals from other diet groups. While researchers have focused on several factors as possible explanation of these findings, both dietary (e.g. Read More

Reproduction 2021 Jun 1. Epub 2021 Jun 1.

M Du, Gyn/Obs Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Deficient decidualization of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes including miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction and pre-eclampsia. Decidualization is regulated by multiple factors such as hormones and circadian genes. Melatonin, a circadian-controlled hormone, is reported to be important for various reproductive process, including oocyte maturation and placenta development. Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021 25;12:676083. Epub 2021 May 25.

University College London (UCL) Great Ormond Street (GOS) Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom.

Objective: The International Cooperative Growth Study, NutropinAq European Registry (iNCGS) (NCT00455728) monitored long-term safety and effectiveness of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; NutropinAq [somatropin]) in paediatric growth disorders.

Methods: Open-label, non-interventional, post-marketing surveillance study recruiting children with growth disorders. Endpoints included gain in height standard deviation score (SDS), adult height, and occurrence of adverse events (AEs). Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021 24;12:680964. Epub 2021 May 24.

Department of Neurosurgery and Spine Surgery, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.

Introduction: Little is known about psychological reasons associated with adherence to growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy (GHRx) in adults. As in other chronic diseases, medication-related beliefs, coping strategies and disease impact on quality of life (QoL) might play an important role. We thus explored these psychological factors in relation to adherence in patients with GH deficiency (GHD) in order to find leverage points for the improvement of adherence. Read More

Sci Adv 2021 Jun 9;7(24). Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Women's Guild Lung Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Recent studies have identified impaired type 2 alveolar epithelial cell (ATII) renewal in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) human organoids and severe fibrosis when ATII is defective in mice. ATIIs function as progenitor cells and require supportive signals from the surrounding mesenchymal cells. The mechanisms by which mesenchymal cells promote ATII progenitor functions in lung fibrosis are incompletely understood. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 May;100(19):e25843

Department of Paediatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan.

Abstract: Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a rare disease associated with either isolated growth hormone deficiency (GHD) or combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD). In older children and adults, most patients experience short stature or hypogonadism. Neonatal PSIS is extremely rare and is difficult to recognize due to absence of dwarfism. Read More

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Internal Medicine, division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Context: Features of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) overlap with features of growth hormone (GH) deficiency, like small hands and feet, short stature, increased body fat and low muscle mass and strength. In children with PWS, GH treatment (GHt) improves physical health and cognition. GHt has become standard of care in PWS children, but in adults this is not yet the case. Read More

AACE Clin Case Rep 2021 May-Jun;7(3):192-194. Epub 2020 Dec 24.

Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama.

Objective: To describe new and unusual endocrinopathies in children with de novo 18q deletion (18q-) syndrome.

Methods: We describe 2 patients who have atypical thyroid conditions and 1 who also developed symptomatic hypocalcemia.

Results: The first patient developed hyperthyroidism at the age of 3 years, with a free thyroxine level of 3. Read More

Horm Res Paediatr 2021 Jun 4:1-24. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Department of Paediatrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.

The current differential diagnosis for a short child with low insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and a normal growth hormone (GH) peak in a GH stimulation test (GHST), after exclusion of acquired causes, includes the following disorders: (1) a decreased spontaneous GH secretion in contrast to a normal stimulated GH peak ("GH neurosecretory dysfunction," GHND) and (2) genetic conditions with a normal GH sensitivity (e.g., pathogenic variants of GH1 or GHSR) and (3) GH insensitivity (GHI). Read More

Plant Cell Rep 2021 Jun 5. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.

Key Message: Expression pattern indicates that JA biosynthesis pathway via regulating JA levels might control root system architecture to improve nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and N, P, K deficiency tolerance in rice. Deficiencies of macronutrients (N, P and K) and consequent excessive use of fertilizers have dramatically reduced soil fertility. It calls for development of nutrient use efficient plants. Read More

Reprod Sci 2021 Jun 2. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

Shaoxing People's Hospital (Shaoxing Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine), Zhong Xing North street 568, Yuecheng District, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China, 312000.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurogenetic disorder caused by deficiency expression of paternally imprinted genes of the chromosomal region 15. In this study, we report a novel mutation in the myosin binding protein C (MYBPC3) gene in a Prader-Willi syndrome pedigree. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and Sanger sequencing were performed to define and confirm the MYBPC3 gene mutation. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2021 May 6;22(9). Epub 2021 May 6.

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School and Operative Unit of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that is essential for bone mineral metabolism and it has several other effects in the body, including anti-cancer actions. Vitamin D causes a reduction in cell growth by interrupting the cell cycle. Moreover, the active form of vitamin D, i. Read More

Zoolog Sci 2021 Jun;38(3):238-246

Division of Life Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama 338-8570, Japan.

Growth-retarded () mice display primary congenital hypothyroidism due to the hyporesponsiveness of their thyroid glands to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). We examined somatic growth, anterior pituitary development, and hormonal profiles in female mice and normal ones. Although growth in females was suppressed 2 weeks after birth, the measured growth parameters and organ weights gradually increased and finally reached close to the normal levels. Read More

J Lab Physicians 2021 Mar 19;13(1):84-90. Epub 2021 May 19.

Department of Medicine and HIV Metabolic Clinic, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Eaglestone, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can have profound impact on the function of the pituitary gland. We have performed an electronic literature search using the following database: PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar. These databases were searched using the keywords HIV, pituitary glands, cancer, pituitary apoplexy, and infertility. Read More

Eur J Med Genet 2021 May 27;64(8):104252. Epub 2021 May 27.

Department of Pediatrics, Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Ruth Rappaport Children's Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

Schaaf-Yang syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in the paternal allele of the MAGEL2 gene. Developmental delay, feeding difficulties, joint contractures and a high prevalence of autism spectrum disorders are characteristic of the syndrome. Endocrine abnormalities include mostly various pituitary hormonal deficiencies, presenting as hypoglycemia in 48% of reported cases. Read More

Eur J Endocrinol 2021 May 1. Epub 2021 May 1.

E Wolf, Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 81377, Germany.

Aim of the study is to find possible explanations for vanishing juvenile hypoglycemia in growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD) in human patients and animal models. We reviewed parameters of glucose metabolism in distinct age groups in two human cohorts (Israeli and Ecuadorian) of Laron syndrome (LS) patients, a mouse model (Ghr-KO mouse) and provide additional data for a porcine model (GHR-KO pig). Juvenile hypoglycemia is a common symptom of GHRD and vanishes in adulthood. Read More

Pharmacogenomics J 2021 May 27. Epub 2021 May 27.

Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Division of Developmental Biology and Medicine, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.

Recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) is used as a therapeutic agent for disorders of growth including growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and Turner syndrome (TS). Treatment is costly and current methods to model response are inexact. GHD (n = 71) and TS patients (n = 43) were recruited to study response to r-hGH over 5 years. Read More

Stud Health Technol Inform 2021 May;281:133-137

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

The problem of consistent therapy adherence is a current challenge for health informatics, and its solution can increase the success rate of treatments. Here we show a methodology to predict, at individual-level, future therapy adherence for patients receiving daily injections of growth hormone (GH) therapy for GH deficiency. Our proposed model is able to generate predictions of future adherence using a recurrent neural network with adherence data recorded by easypodTM, a connected autoinjection device. Read More

J Pain Res 2021 19;14:1323-1329. Epub 2021 May 19.

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

Purpose: Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) may demonstrate low cortisol concentrations during diagnostic evaluation. However, it remains unclear whether low cortisol reflects underlying pituitary dysfunction. We aimed to determine if a subset of patients with FM have concomitant secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI) and growth hormone deficiency (GH). Read More

Genet Med 2021 May 26. Epub 2021 May 26.

Centre de Physiopathologie de Toulouse Purpan, CPTP, UMR INSERM 1043 CNRS 5828, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.

Purpose: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with hypothalamic dysfunction due to deficiency of imprinted genes located on the 15q11-q13 chromosome. Among them, the SNORD116 gene appears critical for the expression of the PWS phenotype. We aimed to clarify the role of SNORD116 in cellular and animal models with regard to growth hormone therapy (GHT), the main approved treatment for PWS. Read More

Acta Paediatr 2021 May 24. Epub 2021 May 24.

Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Growth hormone treatment was introduced in the 1950s to address growth disturbances and metabolic abnormalities. Hundreds of thousands of children have been treated, with gradual expansion of treatment indications. From initially being offered only to patients with severe growth hormone deficiency, today many children are treated for conditions in which the associated short stature is not primarily thought to be due to deficient endogenous growth hormone secretion. Read More

Ann Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2021 May 12. Epub 2021 May 12.

Department of Pediatrics, Seoul St. Mary's hospital, Catholic University, Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on peak serum growth hormone (GH) level after GH stimulation test in children with short stature.

Methods: Data was obtained from retrospective medical records review of those who visited the pediatric endocrine clinic at St. Vincent's hospital of Catholic university for short stature from January 2010 to June 2019. Read More

Clin Genet 2021 May 20. Epub 2021 May 20.

Institute of Human Genetics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.

Short stature is a common phenotype in children with Schaaf-Yang syndrome (SYS). Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and SYS share several phenotypic features including short stature, muscular hypotonia and developmental delay/intellectual disability. Evidence exists that similar to PWS, growth hormone (GH) deficiency may also be a feature of SYS. Read More

Transl Pediatr 2021 Apr;10(4):851-859

Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Background: Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was approved for the therapy of pediatric patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States in 1985. This study aims to evaluate the effects of rhGH therapy on thyroid function in pediatric patients with GHD.

Methods: A total of 55 pediatric patients, who had been diagnosed with GHD and received rhGH therapy for 6-24 months, and who could regularly come to our hospital for outpatient visits from May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2017, were selected for the study. Read More

Endokrynol Pol 2021 May 19. Epub 2021 May 19.

We report a case of SEDT-XL patient who grew 18.4cm after 31 months of GH treatment, reaching the 10th percentile of the height of children of the same sex and age. Read More

J Endocrinol Invest 2021 May 18. Epub 2021 May 18.

Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 1820 Richmond Rd SW, Calgary, AB, T2T 5C7, Canada.

Purpose: Many patients who undergo bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in adulthood experience unexplained chronic fatigue which can have a major impact on their health-related quality of life (QoL). Pre-BMT treatment regimens increase the risk of developing acquired growth hormone deficiency (GHD), which results in a clinical syndrome with decreased energy and has additionally been linked to metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Using the gold-standard insulin hypoglycemic test (IHT), we evaluated the prevalence of GHD in 18 post-BMT adult patients with unexplained chronic fatigue, as well as the correlation between peak serum GH response and QoL scores, the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance. Read More

J Neurooncol 2021 May 17. Epub 2021 May 17.

Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Tumor Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Purpose: The role of transsphenoidal surgery in the recovery of preexisting hormone dysfunction from pituitary tumors remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of hormone dysfunction among asymptomatic non-functioning pituitary adenomas and their recovery following endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included age under 80 years, presence of a non-functioning pituitary adenoma compressing the normal gland resulting in deviation of the stalk, absence of visual symptoms, and availability for regular follow-up using MRI and pre- and post-operative endocrinological assessments. Read More

Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet 2021 06 16;187(2):186-191. Epub 2021 May 16.

Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC), FIOCRUZ-Genética, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In this article, we analyze several works of art which portray individuals with short stature ("dwarfism"). We have focused on eight individuals who we believe have short stature due to growth hormone deficiency (GHD) or closely related disorders, rather than skeletal dysplasia. We discuss them individually, suggest the potential diagnosis, review the characteristics of their life and personal history, and briefly outline the artistic framework in which these works of art were created. Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2021 28;12:626427. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Clinical Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Pituitary hormone axes modulate glucose metabolism and exert direct or indirect effects on insulin secretion and function. Cortisol and growth hormone are potent insulin-antagonistic hormones. Therefore impaired glucose tolerance, elevated fasting glucose concentrations and diabetes mellitus are frequent in Cushing's disease and acromegaly. Read More