ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Disease-modifying agents, such as anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies, have shown promising outcomes in improving the management of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Immunotherapy with teplizumab has delayed the onset of T1D for three years. It is been administered intravenously for 14 days in children and young people (CYP) aged > eight years already in stage 2 (multiple islet autoantibodies, abnormal glucose tolerance, usually pre-symptomatic). This treatme...

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic and demanding disease affecting not only the patient’s life but also the whole family’s perspective. Many studies have explored the effect of T1DM on the emotional and social life of the family; however, a small amount of evidence for the dietary habits of the unaffected members of the family currently exists.Objective and hypotheses: To explore the effects that T1DM has on the dietary ha...

Background: Glucagon stimulation test (GST) is used to assess growth hormone (GH) and cortisol reserves in children being investigated for GH deficiency, as a small percentage of children with idiopathic GH deficiency can also exhibit deficiency in the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)-cortisol axis. However, the extent of normal cortisol response after glucagon stimulation and its associations with clinical and laboratory parameters have not been thoroughly...

Background and Hypothesis: Autoimmune thyroid disorders (AITD), including Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (HT) and Grave’s disease (GD), are known to cluster with other autoimmune disorders (AID). There seem to exist both a pathophysiological basis of immunomodulator genes and epidemiological indications of a higher prevalence of AID including Celiac disease (CeD) in patients with AITD, compared to that in the healthy pediatric population. CeD is asymptomatic in a large prop...

Background: Peak GH level during stimulation tests (STs) stands as an important parameter in growth prediction models and recently it was shown that timing of the peak value in glucagon stimulation test (GST) may be an important indicator of growth hormone deficiency (GHD).Objective and hypotheses: To detect a possible relationship between timing of the peak value of GH during STs and the effectiveness of treatment with rhGH in children with idiopathic G...

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental condition in school-aged children, with a prevalence of 5–8%. In individuals with ADHD, there is an attenuated biologic stress response to challenging situations.Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of an 8-week stress management program, comprising self-applied cognitive exercises, on stress perception and anxiety symptoms, sleep...

Introduction: Body composition analysis is a painless, bloodless and highly informative method of assessing health indicators that can be used extensively in the pediatric population. This is particularly important granted that the prevalence of childhood obesity has been increasing at a fast pace worldwide. Increased adiposity in children and adolescents is an important issue for children’s growth and psychologic development. Assessing the psychosocial status of children...

Introduction: Increased adiposity has been associated with smoldering systemic inflammation and metabolic syndrome manifestations, leading to further morbidity by increasing the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease in adults. Similar analyses have not been performed systematically in children and adolescents.Hypothesis: This study investigates the interrelations between body composition parameters and indices of inflammation and m...

Background: The exposure to environmental toxicants has been estimated to contribute directly to 3% of human neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs). Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), which are widespread persistent organic pollutants, have been implicated mainly because of their endocrine disruptive nature. Several studies have reported the above relations between maternal serum, the placenta barrier and the breast milk levels of OCPs and NDDs.Aim: The a...

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder worldwide. Evidence suggests dysfunction of the fronto-subcortical pathways and the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems, as well as dysregulation of the stress system, i.e., the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to examine i) the diurn...