ESPE Abstracts

Background: The typical biochemical phenotype related to obesity, that is high serum thyrotropin (TSH) within normal range, low/normal free thyroxine (FT4) and increased free triiodothyronine (FT3) levels, can be interpreted as a resistance to thyroid hormones. It is unclear the role played by thyroid hormones in the pathogenesis of metabolic derangement associated with obesity.Aim: To investigate the association between...

Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is an hereditary disorder characterized by resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) and in varying degrees to TSH, GHRH and FSH/LH, and caused by loss-of-function mutations in the GNAS gene, encoding the membrane protein Gs-alpha. Pathognomonic of these patients is a dysmorphic phenotype, called Albright's Osteodystrophy, which includes short stature, obesity, round face, mental delay, subcutaneous ossifications and brachydactyly. The most fr...

Objectives: Increased central and peripheral sensitivity to thyroid hormones seems to be associated with an increased risk of developing prediabetes in adulthood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the severity of obesity, the presence of glyco-metabolic alterations, and tissue sensitivity to thyroid hormones in prepubertal euthyroid children with simple obesity.Methods: Eighty prepubert...

Introduction: Pediatric obesity is associated with an increased risk of serious long-term complications. Therapeutic failure is influenced by several factors, such as the high dropout rate. A retrospective study was conducted on a cohort of children and adolescents with essential obesity, in order to evalute (1)the average duration of a correct follow-up and the percentage of weight loss at the end of it, (2)the rate of drop-out, researching related factors.</...

Introduction: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is diagnosed in up to 60% of overweight children. Diagnosis and management of NAFLD is challenging due to the lack of non-invasive imaging biomarkers. Ultrasound (US) is the most widely non-invasive method used to identify liver steatosis, however it has low sensitivity to detect mild steatosis and to quantify hepatic fibrosis. Liver Elastography (LE) is a non-invasive methodology used to evaluate hep...

Introduction: NR5A1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 5 group A member 1) is a transcriptional regulator of adrenal and gonadal development and function. Heterozygous and homozygous NR5A1 mutations have been described in 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD). The clinical, endocrine and genetic features of three 46,XY children from two unrelated families (A and B) with NR5A1 genetic variants are reported.P...

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 ...

Background: Many organs of human body are attacked by autoimmune processes and countless number of genes are involved in their pathogenesis. Diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM) attaching pancreas is a common autoimmune disease in childhood. Among autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) we can distinguish less frequent in children population- Graves’ disease (GD). Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) gene encodes membrane protein responsible for thyroid metabolism. Interfero...

Background: It had never been investigated to now whether the course of thyroid function in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) may differ in the children who had presented with either euthyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism (SH).Objective and hypotheses: To establish, by means of a 5-year prospective evaluation of 234 children with HT and no prognostic risk factors, whether thyroid status evolution over time may be conditioned by the biochemical patter...

Objective: Minipuberty (MP) is still not well defined in small for gestational age (SGA) infants, due to controversial literature data. The present study aims to evaluate MP in SGA infants, both preterm and full-term, compared with those born adequate for gestational age (AGA), during the first year of life.Design: Case-Control, Prospective Study.Methods: The study population included 33 SGA newbor...