Retraction to: Endocrine https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-018-1803-1 published online 14 November 2018

The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article. After publication, concerns were raised regarding similarities between flow cytometry plots in Fig. 10a and those in previous articles from different authors [1] and [2]. The authors issued a Correction, but a high degree of similarity remained in the plots. Additionally, insufficient ethics approval information has been provided in the article, and the authors did not respond to the request for evidence of ethics approval. The Editor-in-Chief therefore no longer has confidence in the presented data and the integrity of the study.

None of the authors have responded to any correspondence from the editor or publisher about this retraction.