ESPE Abstracts

Background: Arginine HCl infusion is commonly used in the diagnostic workup of GH deficiency. There is a paucity of data whether obesity and/or short stature modulate arginine plasma concentration and associated arginine-stimulated GH secretion following a weight-based arginine infusion protocol.Objective and hypotheses: To study whether auxiological parameters modulate the arginine plasma concentration profile and associated GH secretion in children und...

Background: Several studies observed a positive secular trend for the occurrence of earlier puberty. Genetic background, weight gain, and environmental factors are assumed as contributors. In March 2020, WHO declared a worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. To reduce transmission, Germany and many other countries imposed regulations of social distancing and lockdowns leading to significant changes in daily life for children followed by an increase in obesity but also...

Background: PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) encompasses different syndromic disorders which are associated with autosomal-dominant mutations of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN. Patients are at high risk to develop benign and malignant tumors. Macrocephaly is a diagnostic feature, but there is a paucity of data on prevalence, degree und development during growth. Charts for length, weight and head circumference for this rare disorder do no...

Background: Donohue syndrome (DS) is caused by autosomal-recessive loss of function mutations of the insulin receptor gene. DS is associated with diabetes mellitus unresponsive to conventional insulin therapy due to severe insulin resistance. Patients exhibit IUGR and postnatal failure to thrive. They develop a characteristic facies, hypertrichosis and acanthosis nigricans. Most patients die within the first two years of life because of respiratory infections. To date, no caus...

Background: Alterations of pre- and early postnatal growth can have long lasting impact on adult height, body composition and metabolic health throughout life. In monozygotic twins discordant for prenatal growth due to twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), we previously demonstrated lower cord blood IGF-I concentrations and earlier pubertal maturation, indicative of prenatal programming of endocrine systems, to be linked to reduced final height of the form...

Purpose: Clinical problems caused by impaired molecular function of inborn errors of immunity (IEI) genes are not limited to the immunological system but can also affect the endocrine system. An autosomal recessive form of severe congenital neutropenia also known as Kostmann syndrome (KS) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the mitochondrial protein HAX1. Knowing that most endocrine disorders associated with IEI are hypofunction, a close cooperation be...

Background: Low birth-weight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. However, very little is known about the impact on thyroid function.Objective and hypotheses: We observed genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth until adolescence to objectify the impact of a lower bw on development and health in later life.Method: Bw-difference of...

Introduction: An optimized replacement regimen with glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids in subjects with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) aims at preventing life-threatening salt wasting and adrenal crises, virilization and pubertal precocity, and at enabling normal linear growth.Aims: We investigated puberty and its impact on final height in children and adolescents with CAH.Patients and Methods: In a cohort of post-pubesce...

Background: Low birth weight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. However, very little is known about the impact on thyroid function.Objective and hypotheses: In a longitudinal study we observed genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth until adolescence to objectify the impact of a lower bw on development and health in later life....

Background: Low birth weight, unfavourable intrauterine conditions, and post-natal catch-up growth are associated with a subsequent impact on growth, pubertal development, and metabolic disturbances later in life. Although the start of puberty is genetically determined it might be altered due to environmental influences.Objectives: In a longitudinal study (birth to final height) we observed growth and pubertal development of genetically identical twins b...