ESPE Abstracts

Background: Neonatal over-nutrition (NON) can have a long-term effects on energy homeostasis and some of these effects may be sexually dimorphic.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to determine how NON affects body weight (BW), body composition and cytokine levels throughout development and if these changes are sexually dimorphic. We hypothesised that the effects would be both age and sex dependant.Methods: At birth, Wistar rats wer...

Background: The central melanocortin system is highly involved in the control of energy metabolism, receiving and integrating numerous metabolic signals, such as leptin, and biallelic mutations in several genes of the pathway have been reported in severe obesity. However, whether and how heterozygous rare sequence variants (hetRSVs) in genes of this satiety pathway contribute to the development of obesity is poorly explored.Objec...

Introduction: Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease that presents with aplastic anemia. Around 60% have short stature (SST), with a mean height of -2.2 SD. However, studies assessing the etiology of SST not having reached relevant conclusions.Aim: Our aim was to evaluate the clinical features and endocrine status in relationship to SST in patients with FA.Methods and Patients: A cross-secti...

Background: Mesoderm-specific transcript (MEST) is an epoxide α/β-hydrolase protein with catalytic activity that is determinant for the development of adipocytes. The MEST gene is an imprinted gene transcribed only from the paternal allele. Although the mechanism by which MEST overexpression augments fat accumulation and storage in adipocytes has not been fully elucidated, frequent subcellular contacts between MEST-positive endoplasmic reticulum, mi...

Background: The approach to clinical management of Graves’ disease (GD) is debatable.Objective: This study aimed to identify predictors of remission in pediatric GD.Methods: A longitudinal study of 36 children and adolescents with Graves’ disease followed from 1997 to 2017 at a single pediatric tertiary hospital was performed. Clinical and biochemical parameters, including comorbidities, treatment with anti-thyroid drugs ...

Background: HABP2 is an extra-cellular matrix protein involved in cell proliferation. Recently, HABP2 was proposed as responsible for the familial clustering of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma (FDTC). However, its involvement was questioned by subsequent studies revealing high prevalence HAPB2 polymorphisms (SNPs) in the general population, leaving its pathogenic role uncertain.Objective and hypotheses: To identify genetic HABP2</e...

Background: Leptin is suggested to be a permissive factor in the onset of puberty by signaling at the level of the hypothalamus to indicate adequate energy stores. Overweight female rats due to increased neonatal nutrition have been shown to develop puberty before normal weight rats.Objective and hypothesis: We hypothesized that this permissive effect may be due not only to increased leptin levels, but also to increased hypothalamic sensitivity to this h...

Background: Childhood obesity is often associated with insulin resistance (IR), which is a key risk factor for the development of comorbidities. The etiologic relation between insulin resistance and obesity is still not completely understood.Objective: In this study a multiplatform metabolomics approach was applied for the first time to elucidate the metabolic alterations in obese children with or without IR. Metabolomics is the revolutionary strategy of...

Background: Skeletal muscle is the largest tissue involved in the insulin-stimulated disposal of glucose, with its size being controlled by hormonal status, among other factors. Leptin plays a primary role in the regulation of glucose homeostasis with a substantial degree of insulin and leptin cross-talk in muscle. However, the relationship between the leptin’s central effects on insulin sensitivity in muscle and associated structural changes remain unclear.<p class="...

Background: Liver steatosis (LS) is diagnosed in obesity at very early ages, not exclusively related to overweight severity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the features of patients diagnosed with obesity associated LS (ultrasonography).Method: We retrospectively studied 88 obese (BMI>+2 SDS) children with LS (LS-OB) and 88 age, gender, race and puberty matched obese children without LS (no-LS-OB). BMI-SDS, body composi...