The present study demonstrates the immaturity and complexity of germ cell transplantation as a clinical approach.

In our NB population (18)F-dopa PET/CT displayed higher overall accuracy than (123)I-MIBG scintigraphy. Consequently, we suggest (18)F-dopa PET/CT as a new opportunity for NB assessment.

The accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT significantly improves when the serum Tg level is above 5.5 ng/mL during levothyroxine treatment or when the Tg-DT is less than 1 year, independent of the absolute value.

Our results confirm the good agreement between (18)F-DOPA PET/CT and (123)I-MIBG scan in patients affected by NB relapse. In time-to-event analyses, (123)I-MIBG scan and (18)F-DOPA PET/CT scores were independently and significantly associated with disease progression.

Integrated F-choline PET/4DCeCT should be considered as an effective tool to detect PHPT in patients with negative or inconclusive first-line imaging. Choline metabolism is correlated with both calcium level and Ki67 expression in HPTG.

Abstract. Increasing evidence of impaired pituitary function in many subjects with primary empty sella (PES) has been reported. We conducted a retrospective analysis of our patients with PES, in order to ascertain presenting symptoms and endocrine status on diagnosis and during follow-up. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pituitary leading to the diagnosis of PES was performed in 8 patients (5 F and 3 M, age: 60.1 ± 3.3 years, M ± SE; group 1) after the diagnosis of global anterior hypopituitarism (H), and in 20 patients (F, age 56.9 ± 2.2 years, group 2) for other clinical reasons. Baseline determinations of pituitary and target gland hormones and of IGF-I were performed. GH response to GHRH plus arginine stimulation was also evaluated. Ten age-and BMI-matched subjects (7 F, 3 M, age: 53.0 ± 4.0 years) with normal pituitary function served as controls (C). In group 1, the presenting symptoms leading to the diagnosis of H were consciousness disturbances, hyponatremia and chronic fatigue. The GH response to stimulation was absent (peak:1.0 ± 0.3 ng/ml) and IGF-I levels (60.1 ± 9.3 ng/ml) were significantly lower (p<0.001) than in C and group 2 PES patients. Among group 2 PES patients, the main presenting symptoms were headache and visual alterations. Baseline hormone levels proved normal in 17 subjects, while slight hyperprolactinemia was observed in 2 and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in one. The GH response to stimulation (12.9 ± 3.4 ng/ml) and IGF-I levels (141.7 ± 12.0 ng/ml) were lower (p<0.05) than in C (GH: 33.4 ± 8.8 ng/ml, IGF-I: 193.1 ± 20.3 ng/ml). PES is a heterogeneous condition that ranges from hypopituitarism to various degrees of isolated GH deficiency, and which needs careful endocrine assessment, treatment and follow-up.

Germ cell transplantation, which offers promising new approaches for research and clinical applications, has focused interest on spermatogonia. This paper describes a procedure that permits the isolation of large quantities of viable spermatogonia. The immunomagnetic isolation procedure was applied to testicular cell suspensions from photoinhibited and photostimulated Djungarian hamsters, mice, and marmoset monkeys. The cells were incubated with a polyclonal rabbit anti-c-kit IgG, binding of which was characterized by immunohistochemical staining. For magnetic labeling, a secondary anti-rabbit IgG conjugated to ferromagnetic microbeads was used. Separation columns allowed the retention of magnetically labeled cells within the matrix. The magnetic fractions were eluted after removal of the column from the magnetic field. All fractions were analyzed for cellular morphology and by flow cytometry. The final enrichment of c-kit-positive cells in the magnetic fraction using fully active testes was in the range of 25-55% with a viability rate of 80-90%. The magnetic fractions of all three species were characterized by high numbers of diploid cells. Cytological analysis revealed a strong enrichment of spermatogonia. No haploid cells were retained in the magnetic fraction. In comparison to conventional procedures, magnetic cell separation is an efficient and fast approach for isolation of spermatogonia.

The purpose of our work was to evaluate the volume of hippocampus-amygdala formation (HAF) in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), being this structure a crucial target for the glucocorticoid action in the adaptative stress-response. AN patients have biochemical hypercortisolism associated to normal ACTH levels, but do not develop the characteristic clinical features of glucocorticoid hypersecretion. Furthermore, in these patients cortisol levels usually do not suppress after dexametasone challenge. Twenty AN females (aged 30.0+/-5.1) with 10.5+/-4.2 yr of disease underwent a brain magnetic resonance (MR) examination during the recovery phase; an age-matched control group (CG) of 20 healthy female volunteers was also studied. Two interleaved T1-weighted spin-echo sequences for 46 contiguous 2-mm coronal slices (pixel 0.98(2) mm) were used. The volumes of both right and left HAFs were calculated with manual contouring from the third ventricle to the Sylvian aqueduct. IGF-I, T3, gonadotropins, 24-h urine free cortisol, and BMI were obtained for both patients (on admission and on present evaluation) and CG. Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon and Spearman tests were used. AN patients showed a significant (p=0.0001) reduction of total (right plus left) HAF volume (6.6+/-1.3 cm3) when compared with CG (8.9+/-1.1). No significant difference was found between right and left HAF in both patients and CG. In AN patients, no significant correlation was found between the HAF and all the hormonal parameters or BMIs, while a trend towards significance was observed with duration of the disease (r=-0.398; p=0.082). MR imaging demonstrated a significant volume reduction o