View clinical trials related to Hypopituitarism.
Filter by:The goal of this observational study is to evaluate, retrospectively and prospectively, the effect of different hormonal and neuropeptide dysfunctions on the body composition of patients suffering from hypothalamic-pituitary pathologies, and to evaluate the potential beneficial effect of surgical and medical treatments with agonists and antagonists of hypothalamic neuropeptides, currently available, on the development and treatment of adiposity and negative cross-talk between adiposity and muscle/bone tissue
Background: Approximately 480 primary, non-pituitary, brain tumours were diagnosed in Ireland each year between 1994 and 2013. Recent developments in treatment have greatly improved survival for younger patients in the 15-54 age range. The Irish National Neurosurgical Centre and the St Luke's Radiation Oncology Centre at Beaumont Hospital and treat approximately 200 patients with brain tumours per year with a combination of surgery, radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy with RT being the most commonly used treatment modality. With improved survivorship, the prospect of individuals living for several decades with co-morbidities induced by the tumour itself or surgical and RT treatments, raises new and complex issues for patients and clinicians. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain are the key regulators of hormone action. They control several hormone systems including reproductive function (FSH, LH) growth (growth hormone), thyroid (TSH) and adrenal function (ACTH) as well as many other homeostatic mechanisms. It has long been recognised that therapeutic cranial RT to the pituitary gland causes hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction (hypopituitarism). Traditionally, high-risk groups for post-irradiation hypopituitarism were considered to be patients with pituitary tumours, survivors of childhood cancer and patients who received high-dose RT to treat nasopharyngeal cancers. The potential for cranial radiotherapy to cause significant pituitary dysfunction in adult patients with brain tumours has received little attention. The assumption has been that the hypothalamic-pituitary axis is more resistant in adults than in children to the effect of cranial RT. However, it is likely that the higher doses of RT, used to treat primary brain tumours in adults, causes significant hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction resulting in hypopituitarism. Preliminary data from the National Pituitary Centre in Beaumont Hospital has revealed that adult patients, treated with cranial radiotherapy for primary, non-pituitary brain tumours, are at risk of hypopituitarism. Approximately 40% of patients had pituitary deficiencies in at least one hormone axis, while 25% of patients had deficiencies in multiple hormone axes. Hypopituitarism confers significant morbidity and increased mortality to patients. At present, adult survivors of brain tumours are referred to the pituitary service for assessment on an ad-hoc basis meaning that many patients with hypopituitarism may go undiagnosed. In addition to the challenges caused by hypopituitarism, long-term neuropsychological outcomes following a brain tumour cause significant functional impairments and reduced HR-QOL. Patients can present with impairments in specific cognitive domains such as memory and executive functioning or more global systems such as attention as well as significant issues with fatigue. In addition to these primary deficits, patients can also present with significant distress, fluctuant mood and anxiety. Despite the impact of brain tumours can exert, the National Cancer Control Program's National Survivorship Needs Assessment Review (2019) did not identify any studies reporting the needs of adult survivors of brain tumours in Ireland. There is an urgent need to understand the impact of hypopituitarism and its treatment on HR-QOL and neuropsychological functioning. The proposed study will add to the limited existing literature on the prevalence of hypopituitarism in adult survivors of brain tumours treated with radiotherapy and generate detailed information on deficiency rates for individual pituitary hormones and how these deficiencies emerge over time. This will also be the first study to examine if treatment of radiotherapy-induced hypopituitarism (as part of routine clinical care) is associated with improved HR-QOL and neuropsychological functioning.
Prolonged circulatory shock is associated with marked disturbances in vascular supply to the brain, and endothelial dysfunction which can lead to disseminated intravascular coagulation and microvascular thrombosis. Pituitary dysfunction is documented following post-partum hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which also affect blood flow to the pituitary. However, there are no studies assessing pituitary function in the aftermath of recovery from shock. This will be a prospective observational study of patients admitted in Critical Care Medicine (CCM) ICU who have recovered from prolonged septic shock (Lasting for a period of > 24 hours). Blood samples of the participants will be estimated at the time of discharge from the ICU and at 6 months post discharge. Investigators will estimate fasting serum cortisol, TSH, Free T4, Testosterone (in males), Oestrogen (in females), LH, FSH, Prolactin, IGF-1 and plasma ACTH in all participants at both time points (at the time of ICU discharge and at 6-months follow-up). Participants who have borderline serum cortisol values (138-400 nmol/l) will be subjected to 250ug ACTH stimulation test. Expected outcome of the proposed study is to know proportion of patients having pituitary hormone axis dysfunction. Investigators will also look for pituitary dysfunction persist or revert, or there are new onset dysfunction at 6 month follow up. This would have major implications in the follow up and management of ICU survivors.
Relatively little is known about the quality of life (QOL) of patients with hypopituitarism, particularly children. Quality of life studies have mostly focused on improvements following the initiation of growth hormone treatment in adults with growth hormone deficiency. Overall QOL data on patients with multiple pituitary hormone deficiency or another isolated deficiency are much scarcer. These studies suggest however that pituitary deficiencies affect the QOL and social integration of adults. In children, the psychosocial repercussions of the disease are very poorly understood, particularly in the case of multiple congenital pituitary hormone deficiency.
The pituitary gland is a small pea-sized gland that produces a variety of important hormones. Some children are born with a deficient production of two or more pituitary hormones. This rare and potentially severe disease is called congenital combined pituitary hormone deficiency (cCPHD). cCPHD can cause many different symptoms, some of which appear shortly after birth and others later in childhood. Symptoms that appear shortly after birth are e.g., development of very low blood sugar, disturbances in the salt balance, and severe dehydration, whereas symptoms that appear later in life are short stature, missing pubertal development, fatigue, and sensitiveness to cold. Fortunately, it is possible to replace the missing hormones. Currently, it is unknown how common cCPHD is. Therefore, the investigators wish to examine 1) how many children are diagnosed with cCPHD before the age of 18 years, 2) how many children are diagnosed with cCPHD at age <1 year, 1-8 years, 9-17 years, and 3) the patients' hormone deficiency characteristics and brain MRI scans. The investigators will identify the patients by searching for diagnosis codes used for pituitary disease and pituitary malformations in the Danish National Patient Registry and locally at the four hospitals approved for the treatment of cCPHD in children. Through the searches, the investigators expect to identify approximately 1500 patients. The investigators will then review the hospital files of all identified patients to exclude patients with only one hormone deficiency and patients with an acquired cause of the disease. The investigators aim to include all cCPHD patients in Denmark born in the period 1996 and 2020.
Oxytocin (OT) is a hypothalamic peptide that enters the peripheral circulation via the posterior pituitary gland. OT plays a key role in regulating appetite, psychopathology, prosocial behavior and sexual function. Hypopituitarism is associated with increased obesity, increased psychopathology, sexual and prosocial dysfunction despite appropriate hormone replacement. A few studies suggest the existence of a possible OT deficient state in hypopituitarism. In animal models, melatonin has shown to increase OT release. This study is designed to evaluate oxytocin values after administration of melatonin in adults (healthy volunteers and patients with hypopituitarism). The investigators hypothesize that OT response will be blunted following melatonin in patients with hypopituitarism compared to healthy controls.
The diagnosis of secondary hypoadrenalism and GH deficiency (GHD) often requires the performance of a dynamic test. The glucagon stimulation test (GST) is one of the options for evaluating hypothalamic-pituitary function, representing a stimulus for both the corticotropic and somatotropic axis, substantially safe and easily available. The standard procedure involves the intramuscular injection of 1-1.5 mg of glucagon based on the patient's weight. In addition to its antero-pituitary function, glucagon has also shown its ability to stimulate neurohypophyseal secretion. Using the copeptin dosage, it has been shown that after the administration of glucagon in healthy subjects there is a significant release of ADH. However, the available data are scarse and there is no standardized protocol for the use of the glucagon test in diabetes insipidus. At the moment, GST is not the most frequently chosen diagnostic option. In fact, despite having the advantage of being able to investigate different areas of anterohypophyseal and probably posterohypophyseal function at the same time, the test has some disadvantages: the prolonged duration makes the procedure challenging, the intramuscular injection can be unwelcome, and many variables can come into play in the definition of a normal response (age, BMI, glycemic status). The recent introduction of a single-dose nasal powder formulation (Baqsimi®) could overcome some of the limitations of classic GST and make the procedure less demanding. To date, no assessments are yet available regarding a purely diagnostic role in the context of hypopituitarism of this new formulation. Through the knowledge of the physiological response of the adrenocortical, somatotropic and ADH axis to the administration of intranasal glucagon in healthy subjects, it will be possible to evaluate its possible application in the diagnosis of GH deficiency, central adrenal insufficiency and possibly diabetes insipidus.
The effects of acute administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the neuroendocrine regulation of hydro-electrolytic metabolism are not precisely known to date. Although the mechanism by which NSAIDs favor the antidiuretic action of vasopressin (AVP) in the kidney has been partially elucidated, their influence on the mechanisms responsible for regulating its secretion are less known. The interactions between NSAIDs and natriuretic peptides are also not entirely certain. The present pharmacological research study therefore aims to investigate, in a cohort of healthy subjects, the acute effects of intravenous infusion of diclofenac sodium on the neuroendocrine regulation systems of water and salt balance (i.e. the antidiuretic axis and the system of natriuretic peptides).
Oxytocin (OT) is a hypothalamic peptide that enters the peripheral circulation via the posterior pituitary gland. OT plays a key role in regulating appetite, psychopathology, prosocial behavior and sexual function. Hypopituitarism is associated with increased obesity, increased psychopathology, sexual and prosocial dysfunction despite appropriate hormone replacement. A few studies suggest the existence of a possible OT deficient state in hypopituitarism. In animal models, corticorelin hormone (CRH) has shown to increase OT release. This study is designed to evaluate oxytocin values after administration of CRH in adults (healthy volunteers and patients with hypopituitarism). The investigators hypothesize that OT response will be blunted following CRH in patients with hypopituitarism compared to healthy controls.
Oxytocin (OT) is a hypothalamic peptide that enters the peripheral circulation via the posterior pituitary gland. OT plays a key role in regulating appetite, psychopathology, prosocial behavior and sexual function. Hypopituitarism is associated with increased obesity, increased psychopathology, sexual and prosocial dysfunction despite appropriate hormone replacement. A few studies suggest the existence of a possible OT deficient state in hypopituitarism. In animal models, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) has shown to increase OT release. This study is designed to evaluate OT values after administration of GLP1 in adults (healthy volunteers and patients with hypopituitarism). The investigators hypothesize that OT response will be blunted following GLP1 receptor agonist (GLP1-RA) in patients with hypopituitarism compared to healthy controls.