ESPE Abstracts

Background: A one-month girl was referred to our unit for hypocalcemia. She was the first child of healthy non-consanguineous parents. Her family history was unremarkable except a miscarriage in the mother and oligoasthenospermia in the father that justified a medically assisted reproduction. She was born eutrophic at term after a pregnancy marked by a moderate gestational diabetes. On day 3, a routine neonatal screening revealed a severe asymptomatic hypocalcemia (total calci...

Background: In the last decades a rapid increase in the incidence of childhood type I diabetes (TIDM) has been reported worldwide. To stop the progressively advancing process immunosuppressive and nutritional trials have been made, but failed. Epidemiological studies by our group performed in several countries have shown that the season during which children who developed TIDM were born differed from that in the general population; suggesting that the initial trigger for TIDM ...

Background: Child growth is a dynamic process and influenced by various environmental factors. When measured at short intervals, growth of healthy children shows certain characteristic patterns, which have rarely been studied, but are of great importance for clinical purposes. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Potsdam.Aim: To see whether measurements of height using photographic display...

Background: Body composition measures differ between DEXA scanners. If an old DEXA is replaced a transition period for double measurements on the old and the new scanner is needed.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate differences between the old (Hologic QDR 2000) and new (Hologic Discovery Wi) scanner and to calculate formula transforming measurements.Method: 51 double measurements were performed on a group of 41 children and adul...

Background: Raising a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes can have a profound impact on parents. Having to combine the demands of the disease and treatment with every day parenting tasks can be overwhelming. Easy accessible communication with healthcare professionals was found to support parents in adequately coping with the disease and the disease self-management in everyday life, as well as peer support and tailored disease information. The Internet is regarded to be a suit...

Background: Children and adolescents with chronic conditions are at increased risk of secondary osteoporosis. In adult patients, long-term anticoagulation (LTA) including Vitamin K antagonist (VKA) treatment is associated with lower bone mineral density and hip fractures. In children and adolsescent, risk factors for impaired skeletal health and the role of LTA on bone metabolism during the vulnerable phase of linear bone growth remain poorly defined.<p cl...

Deficiency of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2), a regulator of IGF-1 availability, causes postnatal growth failure in humans and mice, at least in part through dysregulation of bone size and density. The present study aimed to determine the effects of Pappa2 gene deletion and the response to recombinant murine IGF-1 (rmIGF-1) on femur microstructure and composition. Hydroxyapatite-related crystallography and ionic substitutions were analyzed by X-ray p...

Pregnancy associated plasma protein (PAPP)-A2 is an insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein (BP) protease that regulates IGF-1 availability affecting postnatal growth. Mutations in human PAPP-A2 cause short stature and changes in bone size and mineral density. The present study aimed to characterize the effects of constitutive Pappa2 gene deletion on hypothalamic regulation of energy homeostasis in adult male and female mice. In addition to being sho...

Obesity—defined as excess fat mass which impacts on physical health—is a complex and multifactorial disease where numerous environmental factors (overeating and/or reduced physical activity) act in concert with genetic factors. Understanding molecular mechanisms of obesity has rapidly improved in recent years due to the development of faster, more specific genetic screening tools (1). Rare genetic obesities are distinguished from more-common polygenic obesities where...

Background: CS is characterized by excess glucocorticoid excess, either endogenous or exogenous. In children younger than 7 years, the adrenal origin is the most common cause. From this age until adulthood predominates Cushing’s disease (central cause). We can divide CS in ACTH-dependent and independent according to laboratory findings. When ACTH-independent, etiologies are related to benign or malignant diseases of the adrenal or McCune Albright syndrome.<p class="ab...