ESPE Abstracts

Background: Sitosterolemia is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intestinal hyperabsorption and decreased biliary excretion of dietary plant sterol, due to mutations in adenosine-triphosphate (ATP)-binding-cassette (ABC) transporter family (ABCG8 and ABCG5).Case report: A 7.86 years old boy was referred to the Childhood Lipid Clinic due to incidental finding of hypercholesterolemia: total cholesterol 524 mg/dl (13.54 mmol/l), LDL-choles...

Background: Data on metabolic effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) therapy are still controversial.Objective and hypotheses: To longitudinally evaluate the effect of GnRHa therapy on BMI, glycaemic metabolism and lipid profile in children affected by idiopathic central precocious puberty (CPP).Method: This longitudinal retrospective study included data from 42 children (7.70±0.80 years, 2 males) affected b...

Background: Adult survivors of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treated with protocols including cranial radiotherapy (CRT) demonstrate a persistent increased BMI and a reduced final height (FH).Objective and hypotheses: We investigated the effect of chemotherapy alone (CT) on BMI and FH in an international cohort of childhood ALL survivors.Method: English patients (61% female) treated on UKALL XI protocol without CRT a...

Background: Coeliac disease (CD) can be associated with impaired growth in children after a prolonged period of Gluten-free diet (GFD). A small percentage of CD patients does not show catch-up growth during GFD because of GH secretion deficiency (GHD) that could be associated with antipituitary autoantibodies (APA).Objective and hypotheses: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy on final adult height in children w...

Introduction: Benign hereditary chorea (BHC) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder, described as a non-progressive chorea of early onset. BHC can present as single neurologic disorder (13%), brain and thyroid disease (30%) or ‘brain–lung–thyroid syndrome’ with congenital hypothyroidism and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (50%).Case Report: 18 months old infant was admitted to the Endocrinology Outpatient Clinic with motor dela...

Background: GH has several effects on lipid and glucose homeostasis. In adults GH deficiency (GHD) has been associated to increased mortality for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In childhood few studies have investigated the effect of GHD and recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy on metabolic parameters that may increase the risk of CVD.Objective and hypotheses: To assess changes of lipid profile, insulin-resistance indexes, and CVD risk in children and adol...

Background: Placenta tissue hold great promise as a source of cells for regenerative medicine due to its plasticity and easy availability. Amniotic Mesenchymal Stem Cells (AMSC) represent a potentially unlimited source of functional pancreatic endocrine lineage cells, used to replenish the islet mass in diabetic patients.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of our study is to culture AMSC in serum-free condition preserving their phenotypic traits. These cul...

Background: Lipid assessment is emerging as a useful and easy detectable tool to define the overall cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, no all dyslipidemic patients suffer the same cardiometabolic consequences.Objective and hypotheses: To compare anthropometric, biochemical and blood pressure variables among dyslipidemic children and adolescents according to the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS).Metho...

Background: Terminal deletions of chromosome 15q are associated with different degrees of pre- and post-natal growth failure, dysmorphic features, functional impairments and congenital anomalies. Although monosomies of 15q26 do not represent a classical contiguous gene syndrome, candidate genes for selected features have been identified. Short stature is referred to deletions of the IGF1-R gene, located on 15q26.3. We demonstrate evidence of phenotype comparable with 15q26 mon...

Background: Children affected by cerebral palsy (CP) could experience central precocious puberty (CPP) 20 times more than general population. Nevertheless, the treatment is challenging.Objective and hypotheses: To compare CPP features and the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy (GnRHa) in children with CP and in controls.Method: The study involved 16 children with CPP and CP (median age (range) at diagnosis of...