ESPE Abstracts

We describe a female neonate born from consanguineous parents who presented at birth with respiratory distress and severe hypoglycemia. At six months of age, the child was admitted to the Intensive care Unit because of two critical episodes characterized by fever and loss of consciousness. Child condition were critical and suggestive of sepsis, but blood tests showed severe hypoglycemia (19 mg/dl), hyponatremia (Na 132 mmol/l), compensated metabolic acidosis and increased infl...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant increase in Central Precocious Puberty(CPP) has been observed worldwide. The reasons for this phenomenon are yet unclear. In order to evaluate if fear, stress and coping strategies used by children and parents when dealing with negative emotional situations and health issues might have acted as triggers for this phenomenon, we administered specific questionnaires to girls who had a diagnosis of CPP before and after the COVID-19 relat...

Introduction: Sulfation is required for the metabolism of numerous compounds, including proteoglycans, steroid hormones, neurotransmitters, toxic chemicals, and drugs like acetaminophen. The sulfate transporter SLC13A1 is responsible for the intestinal absorption and the renal reabsorption of inorganic sulfate, but loss-of-function mutations in this gene have never been described in man. Here, we describe a male with a biallelic loss-of-function variant, i.e.,...

Introduction: Vitamin D-dependent rickets type I (OMIM # 264700) is a rare autosomical recessive disorder that affects vitamin-D metabolism characterized by severe hypocalcaemia with moderate hypophosphatemia. The most common form is type IA, caused by the mutation of gene coding for 1-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP27B1OMIM * 609506. 12q14) that converts the 25-OH-vitaminD in 1,25-OH-vitaminD.Case report: A 2.3 years female with...

Introduction: Thyroid diseases are among the most common endocrine disorders affecting children and adolescents. These conditions are often associated with a wide range of skin disorders such as xerosis, mixedema, hypohidrosis, eczema, and more rarely hypertrichosis.Case: A 5-year-old female child was referred to our clinic due to short stature, Cushingoid appearance and marked hypertrichosis. At birth length and weight ...

Cushing’s disease (CD) is defined as hypercortisolism secondary to an adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) secreting pituitary adenoma. It is rare in the pediatric age and early diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent long-term complications. In the diagnostic workup, bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) of ACTH after corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation is the gold standard in the differential diagnosis of ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism. We re...

Introduction: Thyroid hormones (THs) play a crucial role in growth, brain development and function and metabolic homeostasis. The sensitivity to TH indices seems to be associated with metabolic syndrome (MS), prediabetes and diabetes in adults. We evaluated the sensitivity to TH indices in a pediatric population with neuromotor disability in relationship with the MS presence, using a multivariate analysis (MVA).Patients and Metho...

Childhood obesity is the consequence of a complex interaction among several factors: environment, genetics, endocrine disorders, medications and other conditions. Genetic factors are described to be causal factors in up to 30–50% of overweight conditions. Although polygenetic obesity is by far the most commonly observed, several obesity related syndromes associated with single gene defects have been identified.Case presentation: A three year old gir...

Background: There is an emerging evidence that the ovary may be an important site where genes such as LIN28b, whose polymorphisms has been strongly associated to age at menarche, could modulate the timing of puberty. Recent data suggest that the endocannabinoid system plays a role in folliculogenesis and ovulation, through cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) expressed in the ovary. On the other hand childhood obesity is associated with increased likelihood of early menarche,...

Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is associated with higher risk of cardiometabolic disease. Perturbation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis activates a set of ER-to-nucleus signaling pathways known as unfolded protein response (UPR). We previously showed that IUGR is associated with the activation of hepatic UPR and abnormal glucose profile in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Herein, we report the impact of IUGR on pancreas UPR in the same ex...