[The latest developments in endocrinology 2004/2005].

The following review presents recent diagnostic and therapeutic developments in the field of endocrinology. With the development of strontium ranelate and teriparatide (human recombinant parathyroid hormone) two new drugs are now available for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. In addition, the therapeutic use of the calcimimetic agent cinacalcet in the treatment of primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism is discussed. The recent introduction of a novel, long-acting testosterone formulation (testosterone undecanoate) which only requires one intramuscular injection every 3 months, together with the already available hydroalcoholic testosterone gels, appear to be promising alternatives to the previous standard substitution therapy for male hypogonadism. Recently, the mineralocorticoid hormone aldosterone has gained much interest due to its central pathophysiological role in secondary hypertension and its potential deleterious role as a cardiovascular risk factor in nonepithelial target tissues. In this context, the therapeutic potential of a new selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, eplerenone, will be ventilated. In addition, (18)F-DOPA positron emission tomography ((18)F-DOPA-PET), a new functional imaging modality for the diagnostic localization of chromaffin tumors, will be presented and the role of the somatostatin receptor radionuclide therapy with (90)Y-[DOTA](0)-Tyr(3)-octreotide ((90)Y-DOTATOC) for the treatment of advanced neuroendocrine tumors discussed. Furthermore, the ongoing controversy about the diagnosis and treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism will be summarized.