Clinical endocrinology

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among women worldwide. However, CVD continues to be perceived as a predominantly male issue. CVD in women therefore remains understudied, underrecognized and …

OBJECTIVE: Unexplained infertility affects nearly one-third of infertile couples. Women with unexplained infertility are more likely to have a high-normal thyroid-stimulating hormone level (TSH: 2.5-5 mIU/L) compared to women with severe ma…

BACKGROUND: Discordance between gonadal type and gender identity has often led to an assumption of infertility in patients with differences in sex development (DSD). However, there is now greater recognition of fertility being an important …

BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancers are threefold more frequent in women than in men. A role of reproductive or hormonal factors has been suggested but with contradictory results. We investigated potential associations between history of hysterecto…

OBJECTIVE: Women with a prior history of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have an increased risk of endometrial cancer (EC). AIM: To investigate whether the endometrium of women with PCOS possesses gene expression changes similar to those …

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a polymorphism in the ESR2 gene (rs4986938, previously associated with endometriosis, ovulatory dysfunction and premature onset of coronary heart disease) increases the risk of Graves' disease (GD). SUBJEC…

The menstrual pattern is influenced by thyroid hormones directly through impact on the ovaries and indirectly through impact on SHBG, PRL and GnRH secretion and coagulation factors. Treating thyroid dysfunction can reverse menstrual abnorma…

OBJECTIVE: Endometriosis is a steroid-dependent disease with a particular genetic background, but the locations of possible genomic aberrations are still poorly clarified. We have investigated the potential association between endometriosis…

Mifepristone (RU486) is a potent antiprogestagen, and at high doses it also acts as an antiglucocorticoid drug. Mifepristone, administered as a single 600 mg dose, is commonly employed to induce medical abortion in conjunction with prostagl…

OBJECTIVE: We have investigated serial changes in plasma concentrations of inhibin A, inhibin B, pro alpha C and activin A in women undergoing stimulation with recombinant FSH in 'long-protocol' down-regulated cycles of IVF treatment. DESI…

OBJECTIVE: GnRH analogues are being used increasingly for a number of oestrogen dependent conditions in women. The resultant profound hypo-oestrogenism is a disadvantage, however, but the preservation of pituitary sensitivity to negative fe…

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although there is extensive evidence that melatonin inhibits gonadotrophin secretion in animals, there is a parity of data on the relation between melatonin and ovarian function in humans. The purpose of this study…

OBJECTIVE: Body weight loss has an adverse effect on the pituitary-ovarian function, and no restoration of the function occurs in 20-30% of patients even after the recovery of body weight. In the present study, the efficacy of alternate-day…

OBJECTIVE: We observed the effects on bone metabolism of the addition of different doses of oral norethisterone during treatment with the GnRH agonist nafarelin (Synarel, Syntex). PATIENTS: Ninety-four women with a subjective complaint of …

OBJECTIVE: The effect of hysterectomy on ovarian endocrine function of premenopausal women was studied. DESIGN: The patients collected daily salivary samples during one preoperative cycle (1), the cycle of operation (2), the subsequent per…

OBJECTIVE: The duration of action of a gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist implant designed to be effective for 3 months was investigated in women by monitoring drug release and ovarian hormone secretion. Serum inhibin secretion …

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether abnormalities of pituitary-ovarian function are associated with minor degrees of endometriosis in women with otherwise unexplained infertility. DESIGN: Comparison of pituitary-ovarian function in a group of …

OBJECTIVE: The evaluation of cholesterol fractions and apoproteins during ovarian suppression by a GnRH agonist implant vs danazol in the treatment of endometriosis. DESIGN: A randomized study in 33 patients comparing goserelin (3.6 mg/4 w…

Ten patients with endometriosis were treated by a continuous subcutaneous infusion of the GnRH agonist buserelin for 6 months. Although serum oestradiol decreased into the menopausal range within 2 weeks after starting treatment, serum LH l…

In an attempt to determine whether the suppression in oestradiol levels caused by danazol is due to an effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, we compared the endocrine effects of danazol with those of the LHRH (GnRH) agonist analogue go…

Single and dual-energy quantitative computed tomography (QCT) were used to measure spinal trabecular bone mineral content in 24 women treated with either nafarelin (15 patients) or danazol (nine patients) for endometriosis. Significant loss…

Tamoxifen (20 mg per day) was administered for at least 3 months to six premenopausal women with uterine fibromyomata. In all the women there was an increased variability in the length of the menstrual and ovarian cycle associated with a si…

Thirteen premenopausal women who each received 400 micrograms three times daily of intranasal buserelin for 6 months as treatment for endometriosis participated in this study. Cortical bone mineral content (BMC) in the mid-shaft of the righ…