Off-label omalizumab was safe and effective in our patients. The novel immunologic features recorded in our patients add further complexity to the mechanism of action of omalizumab.

Hyperprolactinemia is often observed in lymphocytic hypophysitis (LYH). To clarify the possible autoimmune pituitary involvement in patients with apparently idiopathic hyperprolactinemia we investigated the presence of antipituitary antibodies (APA) in hyperprolactinemic patients with idiopathic hyperprolactinemia and in those with prolactinoma. Sixty-six hyperprolactinemic patients (52 F, 14 M age range 28-42 years, group 1) were studied. Of them, 34 out of 66 showed clinical features of hyperprolactinemia and subsequently underwent cabergoline therapy; the 32 out of 66 patients without symptoms of hyperprolactinemia did not receive cabergoline therapy. Moreover, 32 patients (24 F/8M, age range 23-44 years) with hyperprolactinemia due to microprolactinoma (group 2) were also studied. APA, by immunofluorescence method, and anterior pituitary function were evaluated in both groups of patients. APA were present in 17 out of 66 (25.7%) patients in group 1 with titers ranging from 1/16 to 1/64. All patients of group 2 were considered APA negative because these antibodies were found at low titer (

Despite the observation that parity may increase the risk of thyroid carcinoma, very few studies have investigated the possible repercussion of parity on thyroid benign pathology. Recently, parity has been identified as one of the factors contributing to a larger thyroid size in healthy females. The aim of this work was to investigate a possible role for parity on the prevalence of multinodular goiter in iodine deficient areas. For this purpose, the reproductive histories of 2 cohorts of women, normal (Group I, 235 cases) and non-toxic multinodular goiter (NTMNG) affected (Group II, 274 cases) were compared. All subjects were euthyroid and had no previous history of thyroid function abnormalities. The number of full-term previous pregnancies (2.55+/-0.11 vs 1.77+/-0.10) and age (47.7+/-0.76 vs 42.3+/-0.83 yr) were found significantly higher (p<0.001) in multinodular goiter (MNG) patients than controls. Parity and age were found to be directly correlated (p<0.001), nevertheless the partial correlation coefficients demonstrated an independent and statistically significant difference for both variables between normal and NTMNG. Therefore, the independent effects of parity and age were further investigated. The effect of age on NTMNG prevalence seems to be weaker, in fact significant differences (p<0.001) for age between patients and controls were detected only when the effect of parity was absent (nulliparous), while with increasing gestations the effect of age disappeared. Our results indicate that age plays a minor role compared to parity which can therefore be considered as a stronger risk factor. In conclusion, the present study shows that, at least in iodine deficient regions, non-toxic multinodular goiter women show a statistically significant higher parity rate than healthy controls. Age may play a certain role but only when additional stronger risk factors are absent.