Clinical endocrinology
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Clinical endocrinology · Sep 2011
Neonatal thyroid screening results are related to gestational maternal thyroid function.
To study the relationship between maternal thyroid function at each pregnancy trimester and neonatal screening results. ⋯ Maternal thyroid function during gestation is related to neonatal TT4 at screening. The finding of both lower neonatal TT4 levels in boys and higher TSH levels in mothers carrying boys is worthy of further investigation, as both observations may be meaningfully related.
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Clinical endocrinology · Sep 2011
Detection of antipituitary and antihypothalamus antibodies to investigate the role of pituitary or hypothalamic autoimmunity in patients with selective idiopathic hypopituitarism.
Antipituitary (APA) but not antihypothalamus antibodies (AHA) have been investigated in patients with idiopathic hypopituitarism. This study searched for APA and AHA in some of these patients to investigate whether pituitary or hypothalamic autoimmunity could play a role in their pituitary dysfunction. ⋯ Our results suggest that in patients with selective idiopathic hypopituitarism, detection of APA or AHA could better characterize an autoimmune process involving the pituitary or hypothalamus, respectively. In particular, detection of antibodies targeting selectively ACTH-secreting or corticotrophin-releasing hormone-secreting cells may differentiate, respectively secondary from tertiary variants of autoimmune hypoadrenalism.