Pituitary Gland Disorders

We investigate pituitary diseases & their impact, i.e., acromegaly, Cushing’s sd. (coordinators of the European registry ERCUSYN), hypopituitarism, among others. We are currently carrying out the project “Epidemiology in Catalonia” & investigating residual myopathy and the impact on psychological aspects and health-related quality of life (with specific questionnaires developed by us and used worldwide) after treating these diseases; pathophysiology of oxytocin deficiency, including its effect on sleep, thanks to a funded project by the AES 2024; and precision medicine in acromegaly, thanks to a funded project by the IMPACT strategy in a multicentric study.

Main Lines of Research

• ERCUSYN: European Registry of Cushing's Syndrome. Maintenance and operation of the database containing more than 2900 patients, the largest one so far worldwide on these patients. (Webb Youdale, Susana; Santos Vives, Alicia; Aulinas Maso, Anna).
• Study of the physiological and pathological secretion of oxytocin in humans besides pregnancy and lactation. Identification and clinical relevance of an oxytocin-deficient state in patients with hypothalamic and pituitary diseases, who are presumably at highest risk for an oxytocin deficiency. (Aulinas Maso, Anna).
• Effects of mindfulness therapy in patients with acromegaly and Cushing’s syndrome. Leader (Santos Vives, Alicia).
• Spanish Molecular Registry on Pituitary Adenomas (REMAH study). (Gil Ortega, Joan; Webb Youdale, Susana; Marín Bueno, Rebeca).
• ACROFAST and ACROMICS: Personalized medicine in acromegaly to identify markers with a therapeutic value. (Gil Ortega, Joan; Aulinas Maso, Anna; Webb Youdale, Susana).
• Epidemiology of hypothalamic-pituitary diseases in Catalonia. (Aulinas Maso, Anna; Webb Youdale, Susana).
• Study of bone microarchitecture and resistance and factors that determine them in Cushing’s syndrome or acromegaly in remission. Model for investigating the body's bone-fat interaction. (Webb Youdale, Susana).
• Role of myosteatosis in the development and persistence of residual muscle weakness in treated acromegaly and Cushing syndrome. Study of the involved mechanisms. (Webb Youdale, Susana).
• Pathophysiology of sleep disorders in patients with hypothalamic and pituitary damage, using a multidisciplinary approach. (Aulinas Maso, Anna).
• Data collection to evaluate the natural history of various rare diseases represented by the ERNs: Prospective observational data collection done by 2 platforms, e-REC and the Core Registry, as part of a collaboration with EndoERNS (Aulinas Maso, Anna; Marín Bueno, Rebeca).

Scientific Challenges

• Evaluate long-term persistent morbidity and mortality in patients who have had Cushing’s syndrome or acromegaly, especially bone quality, psychological outcomes, muscular dysfunction, and quality of life.
• Analyze and update the European database of patients with Cushing syndrome (ERCUSYN), which in 2025 included over 2900 patients, with partners from 65 centers in 27 countries.
• Identification of a provocative test to unmask an oxytocin-deficient state in patients with hypothalamic and pituitary diseases using a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled design.
• Increase our understanding of oxytocin physiology and pathophysiology in healthy humans and clinical conditions (patients with hypothalamic and pituitary diseases, obesity, and eating disorders) and its effect on sleep abnormalities.
• Conduct in vitro molecular analysis of operated pituitary adenomas within the REMAH (Molecular Registry of Pituitary Adenomas) study, initially sponsored by the Spanish Endocrinology and Nutrition Society (SEEN), to investigate personalized markers of therapeutic response (mainly in acromegaly, corticotroph adenomas, and non-functioning pituitary adenomas).
• Analyze clinical and molecular aspects of pituitary adenomas diagnosed at a young age, in collaboration with Hospital Universitario Cruces.
• Perform the first epidemiological study in Catalonia on hypothalamic-pituitary diseases and compare it with the PADRIS database of CatSalut.
• Personalized Medicine (IMPACT strategy) through next-generation precision medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of Acromegaly.

Contact

Anna Aulinas
aaulinas@santpau.cat