ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth retardation is seen in about 30% of children with chronic renal failure (CRF). Under-nutrition, anaemia, secondary hyperparathyroidism, acidosis, corticosteroid therapy and abnormalities in the GH/insulin like growth factor system have been implicated. Recombinant GH (rGH) therapy is recommended in children showing failure to maintain a normal height velocity despite optimized primary treatments.Objective and hypotheses: It has been de...

It is known that almost 180 million children in the world have stunted growth. Most of these children live in eastern and central Africa and in South-central Asia. Among multiple factors causing stunted growth in the developing world, malnutrition is the most important one. On the other hand, reduced caloric intake is also a cause of poor statural growth in developed countries.Mammals, including humans, exposed to malnutrition experience poor bone growth...

Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a group of seven transcription factors, including p65 (RelA), c-Rel, RelB, p50/p105 (NF-κB1), and p52/p100 (NF-κB2). Upon activation by a wide variety of stimuli, NF-κB translocates to the nucleus, where it modulates the expression of target genes involved in cell growth, survival, and death.Previous evidence indicates that NF-κB regulates bone growth and development. Mice deficient in both the N...

Introduction: in females with precocious thelarche (PT) (< 8 years), elevation of morning luteinizing hormone levels (mLH) may be indicative of pubertal activation of the pituitary gonadal axis. However, this approach could not be satisfactory in real life management of PT due to the risk of reduced specificity and sensitivity of the mLH thresholds. We propose a diagnostic flow-chart based on basal and stimulated gonadotrophins integrated with bone age and ...

Background: McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS) is a sporadic and rare disorder, clinically defined by the classic triad of cafè-au-lait skin lesions, polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, and peripheral precocious puberty. Precocious puberty is common in girls, but has been reported in only 15% of affected boys. Clinical trials on therapeutic management of precocious puberty in MAS boys are limited to case reports or small patient cohorts and no data are reported about final he...

Introduction: Childhood obesity is known to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications in adulthood.Objectives: To evaluate precocious cardiovascular sonographic modifications in a cohort of overweight (OW) and obese (OB) children and adolescents brought to Outpatient Clinic of Pediatric Endocrinology for first evaluation, compared with normal weight controls. 2) To investigate the association between clinical and ...

Introduction: The underlying genetic causes of congenital hypothyroidism with gland in-situ (CH GIS) and hyperthyrotropinemia (HT) remain largely a mystery. Thanks to NGS, genetic screening is now finding many novel variants. The challenge is to correctly identify which genes and which variants lead to CH and which cause only a transient HT.Objectives: Our objectives were to evaluate the presence of variants in 14 candid...

Background: Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital abnormalities in male. Nowadays, hypospadias surgical repair has become highly demanding and deeply investigated with more than 300 corrective procedures. Its success is assessed by the "reoperation rate" that occurs short after the surgery within a brief follow-up (6-12 months). However, short-term outcomes may not reflect the long-term ones, as hypospadias repair may influence adolescence a...

Introduction: Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are heterogeneous groups of irreversible adducts resulting from non-enzymatic glycation and glyoxidation of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acid. AGEs and its cell receptor RAGE have been involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Interaction of AGEs with RAGE results in an increased generation of oxygen radicals and increased expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Circulating soluble AGE rec...

Background: About 85–90% of children born small for gestational age (SGA) experience a catch-up growth that occurs mostly during the first year of life and results in a full stature recovery by the age of 2. The remaining 10–15% do not undergo compensatory growth, achieving - if untreated - an adult height approximately 20 cm below their peers.Objective: The aim of this prospective one-center study was to investigate the relation between bone m...