Eneassoc.net

The European Neuroendocrine Association
President
NEWSLETTER – Nr. 1
Secretary
August 2004
Treasurer
Executive Committee

R.N. CLAYTON (United Kingdom) A. ENJALBERT (France) Y. GREENMAN (Israel) F. KELESTIMUR (Turkey) J. MAREK (Czech Republic) C. STRASBURGER (Germany) We are pleased to update you with the latest news from the ENEA, especially from the Executive Committee. This Newsletter includes: President’s Office
Prof. A.B. Grossman Department of Endocrinology Replacement of members on the ENEA Executive Committee Summary of the General Assembly of the ENEA held in Sorrento Report on the 11th ENEA meeting in Sorrento, April 24-27, 2004 Secretary’s Office
Dr. L.J. Hofland
Treasurer’s Office
Prof. R. C. Gaillard Service d’Endocrinologie, University Hospital (CHUV) BH19N CH-1011 Lausanne A word from the new President

As some of you may know, at the recent meeting in Sorrento, described in detail
by Annamaria Colao, I was elected as the new President of the ENEA. For
those of you who voted for me, many thanks, and for those of you who did not,
well, I hope I can prove to you that the ENEA is in good hands. It will be
remarkably difficult for Leo Hofland, the new Secretary, and myself to live up to
the excellent work carried out by our previous President, Philippe Jaquet, and
our Secretary, Sue Webb. Under their careful guidance, and the previous
Executive Committee, the ENEA has grown increasingly in size and influence,
and you will see from the enclosed letter from Annamaria Colao that the recent
meeting in Sorrento was the best attended yet. There was a quite remarkable
attendance of members from all over the world, who supported and enjoyed a
magnificent programme. In addition, under the ever-careful stewardship of our
Treasurer, Rolf Gaillard, our finances are increasingly healthy. It is from this
position of strength that we are now making our plans for the next meeting,
which is provisionally arranged for October 2006 in Athens. It is never too early
to plan these meetings, and already Ezio Ghigo, Chairman of the Programme
Organising Committee, has been putting together a provisional programme with
the POC, and Nick Thalassinos and Stelianos Tsagarakis have been arranging
conference facilities and hotel accommodation. It will certainly be difficult to
surpass our best ever meeting, but I am sure that the ENEA will become even
more important in world neuroendocrinology. With the accession of the new
states to the European Union in June 2004, Europe is set to be a large and
potent force in international science and clinical medicine, and the ENEA
wishes to be part of this.
Enough with triumphalism, I would just like to stress to you that both I and the
whole of the Executive Committee are still fundamentally the servants of our
membership, and hope to reflect your views and aspirations. We seek to
represent the very best of basic science and clinical neuroendocrinology,
throughout Europe and beyond. Indeed, it was recently suggested that we
should incorporate on the Executive Committee a member for International
Relations, bearing in mind the large number of people outside of mainland
Europe who have attended our recent meetings. We do indeed welcome
membership from anyone, anywhere in the world, and I would be very pleased
to receive your views on this innovation. It cannot occur without a change to our
Constitution, voted on at our AGM, but I would appreciate hearing any of your
own views on this subject. I would also emphasise that we hope to work well
and harmoniously with all of our sister organisations, including the International
Society of Neuroendocrinology, the Pituitary Society, and the European
Federation of Endocrine Societies. The latter is now set to move momentously
to a formal society itself, with individual membership and annual meetings. I
believe that this will drastically change the perspective of endocrinology in
Europe, and I personally greatly welcome this innovation. However, it provides
a new challenge for us to decide whether we wish to continue with our
own biennial meetings in collaboration with, but separate in time and
place from, the fledgling European Endocrine Association, or whether our
meeting should be specifically combined with them. There are certainly
arguments for both, and I would again appreciate any views that you may
wish to send to me, by post or e-mail, which we can use to inform our
discussions.
Finally, I would like to emphasise that you can read this Newsletter either
directly by post or on our improved website, which is now in the capable hands
of Yona Greenman.
Wishing you all the best for a happy and successful year.
ASHLEY GROSSMAN
II.
Replacement of members of the ENEA Executive Committee

At the General Assembly of the ENEA held in Sorrento, april 26th, 2004, four
members have ended their term of office (Philippe Jaquet-President, Susan
Webb-Secretary, Eva-Marie Erfurth and Michael Buchfelder-Officers.) We thank
Philippe, Susan, Eva-Marie and Michael for their excellent work.
Ashley Grossman and Leo Hofland have been elected as the new President
and Secretary, respectively. Yona Greenman, Anton Luger, Alain Enjalbert and
Christian Strasburger have been elected as new Officers.

III. Summary of the General Assembly of the ENEA held in Sorrento on
april 26, 2004

President’s report: P. Jaquet mentions this has been the largest ever ENEA
meeting. He thanks S. Webb, R. Gaillard, A. Beckers for hard work over the
last years. He also informs us that the legal seat of ENEA is now in
Switzerland, which is necessary to guarantee tax reimbursement from scientific
meetings, and that in addition to the main ENEA sponsors up to now (Novartis
and Ipsen), Pfizer has now joined as a main sponsors of the Association.
Secretary’s report: S. Webb mentions that there has been a 20% increase in the
number of ENEA members over the last 4 years.
Treasurer’s report: R. Gaillard reviews the ENEA assets, expenses and
incomes, with a balance at the end of 2003 of 170’023,19 Sfrs. The 174 paying
members in 2003 represent 53% of the members on the ENEA list and he
proposes to delete those who have not paid for 2 years after repeated
reminders.
A. Colao proposes that if they pay for 2004, they will be considered members as from 2004. A. Beckers has confirmed that the Newsletters goes out twice a year. N. Thalassinos presented a video on the venue for ENEA 2006 in Athens, probably at the beginning of October. Votes from the Executive committee of ENEA: 69 votes in total: - President A. Grossman 64 votes - Secretary L. Hofland 58 votes - Officers: A. Enjalbert 59 votes, Y. Greenman 56 votes, A. Luger 56 Future venues: L. Hofland presented a video on Rotterdam as a venue for the
2008 ENEA meeting, while Istanbul presented another one for future venues.
The final decisions on these venues must be taken by the new Executive
Committee of the ENEA.
IV.
Journal information and membership fees

As a subscription for a journal is not mandatory anymore, the number of
subscriptions in 2003 has decreased significantly. Rolf Gaillard informs us that
S.Karger AG, Basel has accepted a proposal for a special offer (Euro 33.-/year)
to the members of the ENEA for an online-only subscription to
Neuroendocrinology. Application for this offer should be made through the
ENEA Treasurer’s office.
Report on the 11th ENEA meeting in Sorrento, April 24-27, 2004
From the April 24 to 27, 2004 the 11th Meeting of the ENEA took place in Sorrento (Naples, Italy) under the presidency of Professor Gaetano Lombardi (Department of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, “Federico II” University, Naples, Italy). The aim of the ENEA, which was founded in 1984 in Switzerland, is to support
and to integrate pre-clinical and clinical studies in Neuroendocrinology in
Europe. In order to further this aim, a biennal ENEA meeting takes place in
different European cities. The ENEA meeting of Sorrento in 2004 was the most
successful ENEA meeting yet, and the best attended ENEA meeting,
representing a highlight in the history of the ENEA. Indeed, the ENEA meeting
was attended by around 1150 participants, including 1000 physicians and 150
co-workers in the pharmaceutical and bio-technical industries from around 50
different countries. During the ENEA meeting, around 400 scientific abstracts
and contributions from 40 different countries were presented in terms of 5
plenary lectures, 11 symposia, 12 Meet the Expert, 7 Oral Communications
Sessions, including 42 different communications, and 14 Poster Sessions, and
2 satellite workshops.
The major clinical topics of the meeting included the introduction of new
generation of somatostatin analogues and the potential synergy of somatostatin
analogs and dopamine agonists in the treatment of endocrine and
neuroendocrine tumors, innovations in growth hormone therapy, new potential
treatments in acromegaly and Cushing’s disease, and the recent studies on
cortistatin and ghrelin. In particular, Dr. A. Saveanu reported important data
suggesting that bipotent or tripotent somatostatin-dopamine drugs may control
GH secretion more effectively than currently available sst2 analogs in
somatotroph pituitary tumors; Prof. P. Trainer reported the results of treatment
with pegvisomant, while Prof. A.J. van der Lely described the potential
usefulness and reported preliminary data on treatment with the universal
somatostatin ligand SOM 230 in acromegaly. Moreover, Dr. R. Pivonello
reported that long-term treatment with the dopamine agonist cabergoline was
effecting in controlling cortisol hypersecretion in 40% of patients with Cushing’s
disease, while Dr. F. Pecori Giraldi reported that the PPAR agonist
rosiglitazone was only able to induce an occasional and transitory control of
cortisol hypersecretion in Cushing’s disease.
The 5 plenary lectures of the meeting included the lecture of the Foundation
IPSEN price and 4 plenary lectures on relevant issue in Neuroendocrinology.

The lecture of Prof. Steve Bloom (London, UK) was focused on the role of
gastrointestinal hormones in the brain; he described the different effects
that the gastrointestinal hormones exert on the brain and the
sophisticated relationship between the central nervous system and the
gastrointestinal functions in physiological and pathological conditions.
The lecture of Prof. Luis Manuel Garcia-Segura (Madrid, Spain) was focused
on the role of oestrogens in the regulation of brain development and
plasticity; he reported some relevant studies demonstrating that in
addition to the classical targets represented by the endocrine and
reproductive areas, oestrogens affect learning and cognition, prevent
neuronal death and may affect the onset and progression of several
neurodegenerative and affective disorders, as well as the recovery from
traumatic neurological injury.
The lecture of Prof. Eve van Cauter (Chicago, Illinois, USA) was focused on
the relationship between sleep and neuroendocrine regulation; she described
the strict association between sleep and sleep deprivation and the changes in
the endocrine and neuroendocrine systems demonstrating that the disturbances
in sleep may cause a variety of disturbances of hormonal secretion and
metabolism which may have significant clinical implications. The consequences
of these findings are that strategies to improve sleep duration and quality could
have beneficial hormonal and metabolic effects.

The lecture of Prof. Paul Kelly (Paris, France) related to his findings on GH
and PRL receptor structure and function obtained by the studies on GH and
PRL receptor knock-out mice. This model helps us understand the different
roles of GH and PRL throughout the body in rodents. The research group of
Prof. Paul Kelly found that PRL is fundamental in reproduction and metabolism
whereas GH is most relevant to reproduction and skeletal structure and function
in rodents.
The topics of the symposia were: neuroendocrine-immunology, neurohormone
regulation of neoplastic cell growth, hypothalamic control of feeding and
reproduction, transcription factors and gene expression, GH deficiency and GH
excess, Cushing’s disease, somatostatin analogues, cortistatin and
neurosurgery. The oral communications and poster sessions cover all the
important issues in neuroendocrinology.
In association with the ENEA meeting 2004, a meeting of the International
Society of Pituitary Neurosurgeons took place as ENEA satellite Meeting in
Capri on April 22-24, 2004. The meeting focused on all the relevant aspects in
the technical advances of pituitary neurosurgery and pituitary pathology.
In summary, The 11th ENEA Meeting provided a state of the art overview of the
full field of neuroendocrinology and an excellent occasion for informative
discussions and debates with colleagues from all over the world.
The next ENEA Meeting will take place in Athens (Greece) in 2006.
Awards


The second Foundation Ipsen price was awarded to Prof. Robert J. Lefkowitz
(Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA) for his research on “Seven membrane
spanning receptors and their regulation”. Robert J. Lefkowitz is Professor of
Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center.
His scientific work centred on the regulation of seven membrane spanning
receptors. He has published extensively on the molecular mechanisms of the
regulation of expression and function of seven membrane spanning receptors.
His discoveries habe been fundamental in the endocrinology research field and
are at the basis of important clinical developments.
At the ENEA Meeting the best oral communication in clinical and basic research
and the 5 best posters were awarded to:
Oral Communications:

Clinical: Hernan Valdes-Socin (Belgium)
Male hypogonadism caused by isolated LH deficiency: from pathology to gene,
from gene to physiology
Basic: Manuel Tena Sempere (Spain)
Orexin 1 receptor messenger ribonucleic acid expression and stimulation of
testosterone secretion by orexin-A in rat testis.
Posters:

1) Luigi Maria Cavallo (Italy)
Endoscopic transnasal approach to the laterosellar compartment (LSC) versus
transcranial route. Anatomical study.
2) Diego Ferone (Italy)
Effect of somatostatin, somatostatin analogues, cabergoline and the chimeric
somatostatin-dopamine molecule BIM 23-A370 on pituitary adenoma cell
proliferation.
3) Anna Gruszka (Poland)
The effect of selective sst1, sst2, sst5 somatostatin receptors agonists and a
somatostatin/dopamine (SST/DA) chimera on the "clinically non functioning"
pituitary adenomas in vitro.
4) Christina Maier (Austria)
Specific glucocorticoid binding sites on the cell membrane of the AtT-20 cell line
5) Dania Russo (Italy)
Growth hormone directly inhibits apoptosis in a human colonic cell lines
(CACO2): antagonistic effects of peroxisome proliferation activated receptor-
ligands.

Yona Greenman is in charge of the ENEA website (ease
visit the site, where you can find the membership and subscription forms and
links to other Societies and Journals. A list of members is also available from
the Membership page of the website as a password-protected Acrobat file. On
request, the password can be provided by the Secretary (L. Hofland:
). If you detect any error in your address, please
inform the Secretary, preferably by e-mail. A pdf file of the Newletter can be
found on the website as well.

VII.
Forthcoming ENEA meeting in 2006

The next Meeting of the European Neuroendocrine Association will be held in
Athens, Greece, from October 21-23, 2006. The venue of the Meeting is the
International Conference Centre, Megaron,The Athens Concert Hall. As
indicated in the note from the President, N. Thalassinos and S. Tsagarakis are
the local Organizers of the 2006 ENEA Meeting in Athens. E. Ghigo is chairman
of the Program Organizing Committee.

Source: http://www.eneassoc.net/tl_files/pdf/newslet1.pdf