Treatment of lean PCOS teenagers: a follow-up comparison between Myo-Inositol and oral contraceptives.

OBJECTIVE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrinological and metabolic disorder widely diffused and diagnosed in women of reproductive age. The pathology exhibits alteration of the reproductive functions, including conditions as hyperandrogenism, menstrual cycle irregularity, type 2 diabetes. These conditions are visible in the patients through phenotypical manifestations as hirsutism, acne, and obesity. Even if the syndrome is characterized by common features among both adult and adolescent women, the diagnostic criteria are different for the two age categories and to date still controversial. We investigated different treatments in PCOS adolescents with non-severe metabolic conditions, to evaluate which could be the appropriate therapeutical approach for these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We enrolled lean teenagers with PCOS, and we divided the patients in two age ranges: 13-16 years old and 17-19 years old. They were treated for 3 months either with oral contraceptive pills (OCP) drospirenone/ethinylestradiol (group A), myo-Inositol (myo-Ins) (group B), or OCP plus myo-Ins (group C). Data were analyzed with a descriptive statistics summarizing quantitative variables including median, 25th and 75th percentiles. RESULTS: We pointed out that the group of 13-16 years old lean teenagers treated with myo-Ins exhibit a significant decrease of weight and body mass index (BMI), and an effective improvement the metabolic and hormonal parameters achieved with a non-pharmacological treatment. In the older teenagers aged 17-19 years, data highlights that myo-Ins treatment in combination with OCP prevents the increases of weight and BMI, improves the metabolic profile of the patients, and strongly ameliorates the hormonal parameters analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate a different scenario in the two age ranges considered and interestingly suggest an important role of myo-Ins in the PCOS context. A therapy based on this natural compound alone or in combination with OCP seems effective to improve both metabolic and hormonal parameters of PCOS adolescents and thus could represent a novel and valid option to consider for the treatment of this syndrome.

The 40:1 myo-inositol/D-chiro-inositol plasma ratio is able to restore ovulation in PCOS patients: comparison with other ratios.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the efficacy of seven different ratios between two inositols stereoisomers, myo-inositol (MI) and D-chiro-inositol (DCI), in the therapy of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: fifty-six PCOS patients (8 for each group) were treated by oral route using the following formulations: DCI alone, and 1:3.5; 2.5:1; 5:1; 20:1; 40:1, 80:1 MI/DCI ratio. They received 2 g of inositols twice a day for 3 months. The primary outcome was ovulation, the secondary outcome included the improvement of FSH, LH, Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), 17-beta-Estradiol (E2), free testosterone, basal and postprandial insulin levels, as well as HOMA index, BMI and menses. RESULTS: We found that the 40:1 MI/DCI ratio is the best for PCOS therapy aimed at restoring ovulation and normalizing important parameters in these patients. The other formulations were less effective. In particular, a decreased activity was observed when the 40:1 ratio was modified in favour of DCI. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrated that DCI activity is beneficial mainly at a specific ratio with MI, whereas the increase of DCI causes the loss of the beneficial effects at reproductive level. These results in humans validate a previous preclinical study with different MI/DCI ratios carried out in an experimental model of PCOS mice.

Evaluation of thyroid nodule characteristics in subclinical hypothyroid patients under a myo-inositol plus selenium treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The anticancer effect of myo-inositol (MI) is catching researchers' attention worldwide. Thyroid nodules (TNs) have been detected by ultrasound (US) in up to 76% of the general population and, although most of them are benign, thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy of the endocrine system. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective, observational study was conducted in 642 patients with suspected hypothyroidism undergoing US. The analysis was addressed exclusively to patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels borderline associated to TNs classified as class I and II; 1 group (control, no. 16) no treatment was prescribed; the other group (treated, no. 18) underwent treatment with 1 tablet containing MI plus selenium (Se) every day, for six months. Clinical data were collected to evaluate the nodular size, number, and elasticity, as well as TSH levels. RESULTS: Final data were analyzed from 34 patients: in 76% of mixed TNs was observed a significant reduction of their size and 56% of them significantly regressed nodule stiffness following oral supplementation with MI plus Se. The mean number of mixed nodules for patient shifted from 1.39 ± 0.16 to 1.05 ± 0.15 (p ≤ 0.05). TSH levels dropped from 4.2 ± 0.21 mIU/L at baseline to 2.1 ± 0.20 mIU/L post-treatment (p < 0.001). In the control group, 38% of TNs reduced their diameter but TSH levels significantly increased up to the threshold after six months (from 3.95 ± 0.18 mIU/L to 4.30 ± 0.22 mIU/L, p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In SCH patients undergoing treatment with MI plus Se, a reduction of the size, number and elasticity score of TNs as well as TSH levels was observed. Further studies are required, either in vitro and in vivo, to investigate the use of MI plus Se for the management of TNs.

Lack of Influence of the Androgen Receptor Gene CAG-Repeat Polymorphism on Clinical and Electrocardiographic Manifestations of the Brugada Syndrome in Man.

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies suggest that testosterone (T) plays an important role in the male predominance of the clinical manifestations of the Brugada syndrome (BS). However, no statistically significant correlations have been observed between T levels and electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters in the BS patients. We investigated whether the hormonal pattern and the variation within CAG repeat polymorphism in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene, affecting androgen sensitivity, are associated with the Brugada ECG phenotype in males. METHODS AND RESULTS: 16 male patients with BS (mean age 45.06 ± 11.3 years) were studied. 12-lead ECG was recorded. Blood levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, prolactin, testosterone, free-T, dihydrotestosterone, 17-ß-estradiol, estrone, 3-alpha-androstanediol-glucuronide, delta-4-androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and sex hormone binding globulin were assayed. Genotyping of CAG repeats on DNA extracted from leukocytes was carried out. No relationship was found between hormone values and ECG parameters of BS. BS patients showed the CAG length normally recognized in the human polymorphism range and the number of CAG repeats did not correlate with the ECG pattern of BS. CONCLUSIONS: The AR CAG repeat length does not correlate with the ECG features of the patients affected by BS. The search for genes downstream AR activation as possibly responsible for the increased risk of spontaneous arrhythmias in BS males after puberty is warranted.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and PDGF receptors in rat corpus cavernosum: changes in expression after transient in vivo hypoxia.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) overactivity has been implicated in atherosclerosis and several fibrotic conditions including lung and kidney fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and myelofibrosis. Low oxygen tension (hypoxia) is a known stimulus for transcriptional induction of PDGF ligand and receptor genes in different tissues. We studied the expression and localization of PDGF-A, PDGF-B, and PDGF receptor (PDGFR)-alpha and -beta subunits in adult rat isolated corpus cavernosum (CC) under generalized transient hypoxia (pO(2) 10%) in comparison with normoxic conditions. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of mRNA extracted from rat penis showed higher amounts of PDGF-A, PDGF-B and PDGFR-beta mRNA transcripts in hypoxic versus normoxic animals. The immunohistochemical analysis showed that the localization of PDGF subunits and PDGFR-beta was confined to the cytoplasm of the perivascular smooth muscle cells, endothelium and trabecular fibroblasts. Our findings indicate that transient low oxygen tension induces PDGF overexpression in rat CC, which in the long term may lead to an increase of connective tissue production. We suggest that a local impairment of the PDGF/PDGFR system may contribute to CC fibrosis, which is an established cause of erectile dysfunction in man.