ESPE Abstracts

Increasing numbers of infants are being born very preterm. These infants require intensive care and have a high risk of mortality and morbidity which has been associated with both hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. In utero, glucose levels are normally maintained between 4–6 mmol/l, but infants born preterm are exposed to significant periods of both hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia. Early postnatal glucose control may be an important modifiable risk factor for clinical out...

Background: The transient postnatal activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, also called “minipuberty,” is a phenomenon during which gonadal hormone levels increase up to adult levels.Results: In boys gonadotropin and testosterone levels peak at one moths of age and are significantly higher in preterm than in full-term boys. Simultaneously, there is penile growth and the levels of prostate specific antigen increase, indicati...

Background and hypothesis: The neonatal period is characterized by high urinary sodium loss, most notably in preterm infants that questions the ability of the mineralocorticoid pathway to maintain sodium homeostasis.Results: We have demonstrated that neonatal sodium wasting is associated with a physiological renal aldosterone resistance in relation to a low renal mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) expression at birth in full-term infants, both in humans and...