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Rare endocrine disease: Still a long and a winding road
I’m very proud to welcome you to this special issue of Endocrine dedicated to rare endocrinological conditions. It marks the 2021 recurrence of RARE DISEASE DAY, which takes place every year on the last day of February 28th. The primary goal of this world-wide initiative is to heighten awareness in our societies of the existence of rare diseases and the impact they have on the individuals living with them and their families. Heightened awareness and understanding not only among the general public but also among policy makers, public health authorities, industry representatives, researchers, and health professionals.
This year’s RARE DISEASE [...]
Therapy options for adrenal insufficiency and recommendations for the management of adrenal crisis
Monocarboxylate transporter 8 deficiency: update on clinical characteristics and treatment
New genetics in congenital hypothyrodism
Access to patient oriented information—a baseline Endo-ERN survey among patients with rare endocrine disorders
To perform a baseline survey on condition-specific information access among patients/parents/caregivers with rare endocrine disorders (RD) in Europe.
Update on primary bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (PBMAH)
Primary bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (PBMAH), characterized by bilateral benign adrenal macronodules (>1 cm) potentially responsible for variable levels of cortisol excess, is a rare and heterogeneous disease. However, its frequency increases due to incidentally diagnosed cases on abdominal imaging carried out for reasons other than suspected adrenal disease. Mostly isolated, it can also be associated with dominantly inherited genetic conditions in rare cases. Considering the bilateral nature of adrenal involvement and the description of familial cases, the search of a genetic predisposition has led to the identification of germline heterozygous inactivating mutations of the putative tumor suppressor gene ARMC5, causing [...]
Molecular genetic testing strategies used in diagnostic flow for hereditary endocrine tumour syndromes
lthough current guidelines prefer the use of targeted testing or small-scale gene panels for identification of genetic susceptibility of hereditary endocrine tumour syndromes, next generation sequencing based strategies have been widely introduced into every day clinical practice. The application of next generation sequencing allows rapid testing of multiple genes in a cost effective manner. Increasing knowledge about these techniques and the demand from health care providers and society, shift the molecular genetic testing towards using high-throughput approaches.
Alström syndrome: an ultra-rare monogenic disorder as a model for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity
lström syndrome (ALMS) is a monogenic ultra-rare disorder with a prevalence of one per million inhabitants caused by pathogenic variants of ALMS1 gene. ALMS1 is located on chromosome 2p13, spans 23 exons and encodes a predicted 461.2-kDa protein of 4169 amino acids. The infantile cone-rod dystrophy with nystagmus and severe visual impairment is the earliest and most consistent clinical manifestation of ALMS. In addition, infantile transient cardiomyopathy, early childhood obesity with hyperphagia, deafness, insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), systemic fibrosis and progressive renal or liver dysfunction are common findings. ALMS1 encodes a large ubiquitously expressed protein that [...]
