The role of Endocrine Disruptors as real risk for ecosystems, wildlife and humans represents a concern and the debate on this issue is open owing the conflicting interests between the producers of these products and the scientific community. A concise overview of the nature, presence and adverse effects induced in wildlife and humans by Endocrine Disruptors is illustrated. Some indications to r...

Carney's complex is a rare autosomal dominantly inherited multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome that involves spotty skin pigmentations, recurrent cardiac myxomas, endocrine hyperactivity, pituitary adenomas, peripheral nerve tumors, testicular tumors, and ovarian lesions. We present a case of sudden cardiac death in a 40 year old female with a history of Carney's complex with recurrent cardiac...

Carney complex (CNC) is a familial multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome associated with GH-producing pituitary tumours and transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait. Mutations of the PRKAR1A gene are responsible for approximately half the known CNC cases but have never found in sporadic pituitary tumours. Pituitary tissue was obtained from an acromegalic CNC patient heterozygote for a common ...

Pituitary tumors are among the most common human neoplasms. Although these common lesions rarely become clinically manifest and they are almost never malignant, they are the cause of significant morbidity in affected patients. The genetic causes of common pituitary tumors remain for the most part unknown; progress has been limited to the elucidation of the molecular etiology of four genetic syn...

Adrenal tumors are common, with an estimated incidence of 7.3% in autopsy cases, while adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) are rare, with an estimated prevalence of 4-12 per million population. Because the prognoses for adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs) and ACCs are vastly different, it is important to be able to accurately differentiate the two tumor types. Advancement in the understanding of the pa...

<要 約> 内分泌撹乱化学物質, いわゆる 「環境ホルモン」の生体作用の特徴, その対象 として想定され ている化学物質, ならびに現時点での問題点について概説 した.“内分泌ホルモン様の機能”を もつ化学物質 としてのこれ らの物質の生体作用の特徴は, 受容体原性の作用 に性質が集約 される. そこにある問題点は, まず第1に 閾値問題, すなわち受容体原性の障害発症機構に起因する極微量反応性の問題, 第2に 低用量問 題, すなわちおそらく受容体のリダンダンシーなどの分子機構 に関わると思われる, 低用量域ではっきりし ない用量相関問題, 第3に 受容体 シグナルの伝達機構に関わる 「相乗 ・相加効果」の問題, そ して, 第4に, 胎生期の特定な時期に高い感受性 を呈 して後世代影響へ とつながる, いわゆる 「胎生期ウィンドウ」の問題 である. この他, 受容体のプレイオ ト...