ESPE Abstracts

Objective: GH replacement therapy currently requires daily injections, which may cause poor compliance, inconvenience and distress for patients. CTP-modified hGH (MOD-4023) has been developed for once-weekly administration in GH deficient (GHD) adults and children. Pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics, (PD) efficacy and safety analysis of weekly treatment with MOD-4023 in GHD naïve children was performed and compared to daily hGH.Design and metho...

Background: Mouse studies have demonstrated the necessity of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) for normal proliferation of Rathke’s pouch (RP) precursors. However, the possible function of SHH in pituitary cell specification remains to be assessed. Additionally, evidence suggests that SHH may be relevant in human adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP), a histologically benign, but clinically aggressive childhood tumour associated with high morbidity.Objective ...

Background: Age at menarche in girls varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for adult obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality.Objective and Hypotheses: The mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to later disease remain unclear.Method: We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of genome-wide or den...

Background: Despite early detection and treatment, children with Congenital Hypothyroidism show subtle persisting deficits in various cognitive abilities. Degree and type of deficit reflect CH severity at time of diagnosis. We reported (Rovet et al., ATA, 2012) children with CH had abnormal cortical morphology, consistent with animal evidence showing early thyroid hormone (TH) insufficiency affects cortical development. It is not known, however, whether these cortical...

Background: There is an emerging evidence that the ovary may be an important site where genes such as LIN28b, whose polymorphisms has been strongly associated to age at menarche, could modulate the timing of puberty. Recent data suggest that the endocannabinoid system plays a role in folliculogenesis and ovulation, through cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) expressed in the ovary. On the other hand childhood obesity is associated with increased likelihood of early menarche,...

Background: Vitamin D and/or calcium deficiency are very common in many areas worldwide, causing nutritional rickets, osteomalacia, hypocalcaemic seizures, cardiomyopathy, and muscle weakness. Nutritional rickets is defined as impaired mineralization at the growth plate. Untreated rickets leads to bone deformity, disability, obstructed labor, and reduced quality of life. The prevalence of nutritional rickets is increasing globally.Objective and methods: ...