ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Short stature is a multifactorial condition caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Genetic causes include chromosomal disorders and diseases inherited by monogenic and multifactorial inheritance. The purpose of genetic evaluation in short stature is not only for diagnosis, but also to provide additional information to the patients and their families about prognosis of the disease, treatment approaches and genetic counseling.<p clas...

Aim of the Study: ADAM/ADAMTS family members encode extracellular, multidomain proteolytic enzymes. Mutant Adamts16 mice display cryptorchidism and sterility. We hypothesize that gonadotropin-regulated ADAM/ADAMTS genes are involved in testicular development during mini-puberty.Patients and Methods: Testicular biopsies for histological and RNA-Sequencing analysis from bilateral cryptorchid boys were analyzed. RNA samples...

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the response to GH therapy have previously been identified in growth hormone deficient (GHD) children in the PREDICT long-term follow-up (LTFU) study (NCT00699855).Objective and hypotheses: To assess the effect of GHD severity on the predictive value of genetic markers of growth response.Method: We used pre-pubertal GHD children (peak GH <10 μg/l) from the ...

Background: Prediction of response to recombinant GH (r-GH) is currently based on regression modelling. This approach generates a prediction equation which can be applied to data from an individual child. However this method can underestimate the effect of inter-dependent variables. Random forest classification (RFC) is an alternative prediction method based on decision trees that is not sensitive to the relationships between variables.Objective and hypo...

Background: Aromatase excess syndrome (AEXS) (OMIM 139300) is a rare condition characterized with gynecomastia in boys and macromastia in girls. Estrogen excess in boys can lead to prepubertal and pubertal gynecomastia, bone age progression and short adult stature. While most of girls are usually asymptomatic, there are few reported female patients with excessive breast growth, early puberty, menstrual irregularities, and short adult stature. Male and female children with AEXS...

Background: Rokineticin receptors (PROKR1 and PROKR2) belong to the family of G protein-coupled receptors. Bi-or mono allelic mutations in PROKR2 gene have been identified in Kallmann syndrome which is characterized by hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia/hyposmia. Recently, PROKR2 mutations were reported in patients with multiple pituitary hormone (MPHD) and growth hormone deficiencies (GHD), suggesting a potential role for the PROK2 p...

Background: GRB10 negatively regulates IGF1 signalling, influences growth and promoter polymorphisms are associated with GH response1. GRB10 knockout-mouse models display foetal overgrowth2, however, the mouse model has only partial similarity to human growth3. There is evidence that the zebrafish is an appropriate model to study growth4 and has the advantage of being easily genetically manipulated.<p class="abs...

Objective: Hospitalization in pediatric intensive care unit due to critical illness may be life threatening condition associated with severe acute physical stress and concomitant hormonal changes. Whether these changes represent an adaptive response or need to be treated is still not known.Methods: Pituitary hormones evaluation in four patients who were hospitalized in pediatric intensive care unit due to different sever...

Background: Low stress resilience in late adolescence and psychosocial traumatic events in adulthood have been linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) later on in life. However, limited data is available regarding whether prior stressors are related to the risk of developing T2DM in adolescence.Objective: We sought to determine the potential association between prior toxic stressors and T2DM in adolescence.Desi...

Background: The diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) involves the use of GH stimulation tests that require day case admission, multiple blood sampling and are associated with significant adverse effects.Aim: To assess the utility of gene expression (GE) profiling and candidate SNP analysis for the diagnosis of and classification of GHD.Method: Pre-pubertal treatment-naïve children with GHD (n=98) were enrolled from the...