ABSTRACT Objectives Body mass index (BMI) is a widely used proxy of body composition (BC). Concerns exist regarding possible BMI misclassification among active populations. We compared the prevalence of obesity as categorized by BMI or by skinfold estimates of body fat percentage (BF%) in a physically active population. Subjects and methods 3,822 military firefighters underwent a physical fitness evaluation including cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) by the 12 min-Cooper test, abdominal strength by sit-up test (SUT) and body composition (BC) by BF% […]

The author reviews the literature on the new assays for serum thyroglobulin (sTg) presenting lower functional sensitivity and demonstrates that its use, whilst the patients are taking L-T4, presents better results than sTg following TSH stimulation in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Therefore, he suggests a revision on the guidelines for the follow-up of these patients (developed when the available assays present a sensitivity of 1 ng/mL), proposing the use of sTg assays with functional sensitivity of […]

Glucocorticoids play an essential role in maintaining basal and stress-related homeostasis. Most known effects of glucocorticoids are mediated by the intracellular glucocorticoid receptors. The glucocorticoid sensitivity seems to depend on the amount of receptors expressed and the efficiency of glucocorticoid receptor-mediated signal transduction. Glucocorticoid resistance or hypersensitivity, seen in autoimmune-inflammatory diseases and in metabolic syndrome respectively, can represent the variability of several steps that influence the signaling cascade of glucocorticoid action. The recognition of these steps could provide the understanding […]