ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Genetic syndromes often show suggestive facial features that provide clues for the diagnosis. Considering the high number of genetic syndromes and the possible overlap of some features, memorizing facial gestalt is a challenging task for clinicians. DeepGestalt technology, and its app Face2Gene, has a growing impact on the diagnosis and management of genetic diseases by analyzing the features detected in one or more facial images of affected indi...

Introduction: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder resulting from the lack of expression of the PWS region (locus q11-q13) on the paternally derived chromosome 15. Either a paternal deletion of the PWS region (50%), a maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD; 43%), an imprinting defect (4.1%) or translocation (<1%) can lead to PWS. Deletions are almost always de novo and manifest either as a large type I or a smaller type II deletion. In more rar...

Introduction: Most patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have a mild to moderate cognitive impairment. Growth hormone (GH) treatment has positive short- and long-term effects on cognition in children with PWS. Few studies, however, have investigated the effects of GH on cognitive functioning in adults with PWS.Objective: To investigate the effects of 3 years GH treatment on cognitive functioning in young adults with ...

Context: Most children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) develop scoliosis. Scoliosis has a prevalence of 80% in children with PWS older than 10 years, who were not treated with growth hormone (GH). GH is an approved treatment for children with PWS and improves psychomotor development and body composition. The onset and progression of scoliosis are generally associated with an accelerated growth velocity and GH treatment might cause accelerated growth. Sinc...

Context: Clinical findings characterizing PWS are muscular hypotonia, abnormal body composition, developmental delay, behavioral problems, hyperphagia with obesity when food intake is not restricted and short stature. Endocrine problems are described, like hypogonadism, hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency and growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Hypothalamic dysfunction may be responsible for many features of PWS. Randomized controlled studies showed that GH t...

Background and aim: Epidemiologic studies have been shown that obesity increases the risk of renal disease and it impact on prognosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate both glomerular and tubular involvement in asymptomatic obese children and to investigate the association of metabolic-anthropometric parameters with renal parameters.Material-method: Children with BMI ≥95th percentile and diagnosed as primary obesity (n=43) were inclu...

Background: N-acetylneuraminic acid synthetase-congenital disorder of glycosylation (NANS-CDG) is a recently established rare autosomal recessive disease caused by pathogenic variants in NANS involved in the biosynthesis of N-acetylneuraminic acid (the most common member of sialic acids). Sialic acids are ubiquitously distributed in the body including the brain and skeletal system, and are required for the development and function of multiple organs/tissues. C...

Background: N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are ionotropic glutamate receptors that are widely expressed in the CNS where they play an important role in neurotransmission and cell viability and serve as drug targets for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.Objective and hypotheses: Much less is known about the role of pancreatic NMDARs. Since neurons and pancreatic islets have many features in common, we hypothesiz...

Background: The N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) A803G polymorphism leading to substitution of lysine to arginine at residue 268 and codifying for a cytosolic enzyme catalysing acetyl-CoA-dependent N- and O-acetylation reactions, has been associated with decreased insulin sensitivity in a large adult population with the A allele associated with insulin resistance (IR)-related traits.Objective and hypotheses: We screened for this polymorphism, for th...

Background: Phthalate exposure results in endocrine disruption by inhibiting steroidogenesis, inducing focal dysgenesis and disrupting germ cell development in the rat fetal testis. Whilst phthalate exposure does not reduce testosterone production by the human fetal testis, its effects on germ cells and induction of dysgenetic areas in the developing human testis are less well described.Objective and Hypotheses: To determine the effects of phthalate expo...