This study shows that 25(OH)D deficiency is associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased lipid peroxidation. Replacement of vitamin D has favorable effects on endothelial function. Vitamin D deficiency can be seen as an independent risk factor of atherosclerosis. Hypovitaminosis D-associated endothelial dysfunction may predispose to higher rates of cardiovascular disease in the winter.

Although only 4.5% to 16% of ovarian cysts in children are malignant, oophorectomy is common in such patients. Conservative expectant management and ovarian sparing surgery would avoid bilateral oophorectomies in children with ovarian cysts at low risk of malignancy. Pediatric or general surgeons who have limited expertise with pediatric gynecology often manage these children because of limited availability of pediatric and adolescent gynecologists with the special skills needed.The objective of this retrospective case-note study was to investigate the nature and surgical management of ovarian cysts in children at a large children's hospital to determine whether current management practices could be improved. Between 1991 and 2007, 155 cases identified through use of clinical coding of surgical cases and pathology databases were analyzed by use of Snap 9.Sixty-two ovarian cysts were found in children under 9 years of age who were prepubertal. There were 58 neoplastic cysts, but 36 (62%) were benign teratomas. Ten of the cysts were malignant. Preoperative diagnostic investigation was preformed in a minority of the patients: Of the 155 children, only 16 (10%) were investigated for tumor markers; 61 (39%) had an ultrasound scan; and 16 (10%) had a computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scan. An oophorectomy was performed in 90 (58%) of the children and an ovarian cystectomy was performed in 40 (26%). The ovary was removed in all cases with malignant cysts, and in 75 cases with benign or normal pathology (including 5 benign epithelial, 9 functional and 4 paraovarian cysts; 5 cases with normal ovarian tissue; 30 oophorectomies for benign teratomas, 21 for torsion and 1 for hemorrhage). Referral to a pediatric gynecologist occurred for only 24 (15.5%) of the patients following surgery for an ovarian cyst. This number excluded the 10 girls who were still in pain. None of the referrals were before surgery.These findings show that a large number of young girls with benign cysts who are at low risk of malignancy have cystectomy or oophorectomy when a conservative expectant management approach or ovarian-sparing surgery could have been justified. To prevent this practice, the investigators recommend greater use of preoperative diagnostic investigations including tumor markers and imaging, and the training of more gynecologists with the special skills in pediatric and adolescent gynecology needed to manage these patients. EDITORIAL COMMENT(In this retrospective analysis of ovarian cysts in children and adolescents from England, a surprisingly large number of patients were man-aged by oophorectomy and open laparotomy. Cases in this review (and certainly in most reports) were identified by searching the pathol- GYNECOLOGY Volume 65, Number 3 OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL SURVEY ABSTRACTBecause hysterectomy, the standard treatment option for women of reproductive age with menorrhagia, is associated with serious complications and requires a relatively long-recovery period, the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine sys...

Summary.We have studied the effects of vitamin D deficiency on pancreatic A-and B-cell function. Four subjects with vitamin D deficiency and 10 healthy subjects were studied. Pancreatic B-cell function was assessed by the insulin response to an oral glucose tolerance test. An insulin tolerance test was used to evaluate pancreatic A-cell function. The patients were then treated with 2000 U/day of vitamin D 3 for 6 months, after which the clinical, metabolic, biochemical and radiological features of vitamin D deficiency resolved, and pancreatic Aand B-cell function was repeated. In the vitamin D-deficient subjects pre-treatment and post-treatment serum calcium levels (mean _+ SEM) were 2.22+0.01mmol/1 and 2.24_+ 0.01 mmol/l respectively, and 2.27 _+ 0.02 mmol/l in healthy subjects (NS). The pre-treatment level of 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D) of 29.7 _+ 3.3 pg/ml in the vitamin D deficient subjects rose to 70.3 _+10.3 pg/ml after treatment (p < 0.05). The 1,25-(OH)2D level in the healthy subjects was 50.0 + 13.7 pg/ml (p < 0.05 versus pre-and post-treatment values in the patients). Insulin secretion, calculated by the area under the insulin curve, was significantly lower before vitamin D 3 treatment in the patients (9.09 + 0.7 mU x min, p<0.05) compared with the healthy subjects (11.9_+ 0.5 mU x min) and post-treatment values of the patients with vitamin D deficiency (13.7 + 0.5 mU x min). Similar changes were seen in the insulogenic indices (AI/AG). While AI/AG was 1.71 _+ 0.4 (mean + SEM) during vitamin D deficiency, it increased to 2.48_+0.3 with vitamin D repletion. The insulogenic index in the healthy subjects was 2.68 _+ 0.3. The glucose areas were not significantly different. Insulin-induced glucagon secretion was similar in all instances. The results of this study suggest that vitamin D deficiency reduces pancreatic insulin secretion but it does not affect pancreatic A-cell function.Key words: Vitamin D, insulin, glucagon secretion.Vitamin D is essential in higher animals and man for the maintenance of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis [1]. This is accomplished by the sequential metabolism of vitamin D by the liver and kidney into its principal biologically active metabolite, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D) [2,3]. The effect of 1,25-(OH)2D has been associated with calcium and phosphate handling in intestine, bone and kidney. It has been established that 1,25-(OH)2D acts on these three tissues, as receptors for 1,25-(OH)2D have been found in these tissues [4][5][6]. Moreover, a large number of previously unrecognized target organs have been identified. Among them are stomach, skin, pituitary, brain and the endocrine pancreas [7][8]. Recent autoradiographic studies have provided evidence that 1,25-(OH)2D is selectively concentrated in and retained by pancreatic islet cells, suggesting a genomic action on B-cell function [8].Because of the known effects of vitamin D on membrane and calcium transport [9,10], abnormalities in vitamin D metabolism could alter endocrine cell membrane function and ...

Background: Hyperprolactinemia has been reported to be associated with abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperprolactinemia and bromocriptine (Brc) treatment on endothelial function, insulin sensitivity and inflammatory markers in pre-menopausal women. Methods: Sixteen hyperprolactinemic pre-menopausal women with pituitary adenomas were recruited and 20 healthy subjects were included as controls. Patients were given Brc in doses of 2.5-20 mg/dl until normal levels of prolactin were reached. Prior to treatment and 2 months after prolactin levels were normalized, the following tests were performed. Insulin sensitivity was determined by an oral glucose tolerance test based on a formula named the insulin sensitivity index (ISI composite). Endothelial function was measured as flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) on a brachial artery using high resolution ultrasound. Results: Serum glucose, insulin, estrogen, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, homocysteine and uric acid levels were measured. Calculated ISI composite and FMD were significantly lower in the hyperprolactinemic group in comparison with the controls and improved after Brc treatment. Serum homocysteine, hsCRP and uric acid levels were significantly higher in hyperprolactinemic patients than in the controls and returned to normal levels with Brc treatment. Serum prolactin concentrations were inversely correlated with FMD measurements (r ¼ 20.68; P , 0.0001), ISI composite (r ¼ 2 0.48; P , 0.005) and serum estrogen (r ¼ 2 0.54; P , 0.005), and positively correlated with serum homocysteine concentrations (r ¼ 0.55; P , 0.0001) in the hyperprolactinemic group. Conclusions: The hyperprolactinemic state is associated with impaired endothelial function and decreased insulin sensitivity, which are early markers of atherosclerosis. These alterations may predispose to the development of atherosclerosis in non-treated cases. Correction of the hyperprolactinemic state is associated with improved endothelial function and insulin sensitivity.

Erythromycin, a macrolide antibiotic and a motilin receptor agonist, appears to stimulate intestinal motility and seems to be an alternative agent for the treatment of gastroparesis caused by diabetic autonomic neuropathy.

Epicardial fat tissue may be a useful parameter in the assessment of patients with metabolic syndrome.

Iatrogenic thyroid hormone excess seems to mimic the effects of endogenous thyroid hormone excess on paraoxonase activity, insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress. These findings suggest that TSH suppression with levothyroxine may increase oxidative stress and LDL oxidation and thereby promote atherogenesis.

Contrary to the usual inhibitory role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in thyroid metabolism, it also has specific stimulatory effects in autoimmune thyroid disorders, including induction of HLA class II antigen-presenting cell-T cell interaction. Despite high intrathyroidal concentrations, various studies were not able to demonstrate high serum levels of TNF-alpha in patients with Graves' disease. To investigate this discrepancy we determined TNF-alpha and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels in 25 hyperthyroid patients who responded to propylthiouracil treatment (16 with Graves' disease and nine with toxic multinodular goiter) and compared them with the levels found in euthyroid patients with simple diffuse goiter (n = 15) and normal healthy controls (n = 15). Median IL-6 levels were high in both Graves' disease and toxic multinodular goiter patients before propylthiouracil treatment (23 and 26.5 pg/ml, respectively). After restoring euthyroidism there was a statistically significant decline to near-normal levels (3 and 10 pg/ml, respectively). On the other hand, median serum TNF-alpha levels were high only in Graves' disease patients (20 pg/ml) and could not be normalized with antithyroid medication (20 pg/ml) compared to that of controls (5 pg/ml). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, but not IL-6, was found to be high in the sera of Graves' disease patients when euthyroid, which may be due to an ongoing antigen-antibody interaction, a feature of autoimmune attack. It remains to be determined whether the degree of TNF-alpha and/or IL-6 elevation will be a predictor of disease recurrence.