ESPE Abstracts

Background: Local oestrogen production in the brain regulates critical functions including neuronal development, gonadotropin secretion and sexual behaviour. In the mouse brain, a 36 kb distal promoter (l.f) regulates the Cyp19a1 gene that encodes aromatase, the key enzyme for oestrogen biosynthesis. In vitro, promoter l.f interacts with oestrogen receptor alpha (Esr1) and Progesterone receptor (Pgr) to mediate Cyp19a1 mRNA expressi...

Background and aims: Disparities in children's height often reflect socio-economic inequalities. Our aims were: (A) to describe anthropometric and socio-demographic data of children with short stature (CDC based height-z score<-2SDS) at age 6-7 years, compared to peers with height-z score≥-2SDS. (B) To assess risk factors for short stature at age 6-7 years based on growth and socio-demographic data at age 0-2 years.Met...

Background and aim: Metformin is widely used in Type 2 diabetes, with increasing reports of a potential bone protective role. We investigated the role of AMPK in mediating the effects of metformin on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation to either osteoblasts or adipocytes.Methods: Confluent mouse MSCs (C3H10T1/2), wild type (WT) and AMPK knockout (KO) mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) were treated with metformin(500 μM), AMPK-activator A769662(...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) affects 1:2,500 females and results from complete or partial loss of one of the X chromosomes. Typical traits associated with TS include short stature, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular and endocrine disorders. Long-term follow-up is needed from the time of presentation into adult life. Several genetic mechanisms have been proposed to account for the development of TS-associated featur...

Introduction: The human adrenal gland originates from the adrenogonadal primordium at around 4 weeks post conception (wpc) and undergoes marked developmental changes throughout the first half of pregnancy. Several key aspects of adrenal maturation are well-established, such as the formation of a large inner fetal zone (FZ) and synthesis of dehydroepiandrosterone, but many other processes contributing to adrenal gland development and function in humans are stil...

Introduction: Ovary development was once considered a largely passive process. RNA sequencing (RNAseq) approaches have allowed us to begin to characterise ovary development in previously unparalleled detail, revealing the process to be complex and, still, little understood. A challenge is synthesising and using these data to advance our understanding of clinical disease. Through a clinically-focused lens, we elucidate novel aspects of the transcriptional lands...

Background: Monosomy × (45,X) is associated with Turner syndrome (TS) and pregnancy loss; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Girls and young women with TS/45,X can present with diverse clinical features and at different ages, including early postnatal life, suggesting that at least some mechanisms may be defined during early fetal development.Aims: To explore transcriptomic expression profiles in ke...

Introduction: Rapid-onset Obesity with Hypothalamic Dysfunction, Hypoventilation, and Autonomic Dysregulation (ROHHAD) is a rare life-limiting paediatric condition, with about 200 reported cases worldwide. The disease typically presents in early childhood (1.5-5y) with rapid-onset obesity. Other clinical symptoms may include central hypoventilation, hypothalamo-pituitary (H-P) dysfunction (hyperprolactinaemia, salt-water imbalances, anterior pituitary deficits...

Background: Silver Russell syndrome (SRS) is a heterogeneous disorder characterised by intrauterine and post-natal growth retardation, relative macrocephaly, protruding forehead, feeding difficulties and body asymmetry. Variants in HMGA2 are a rare cause of SRS and despite strong evidence for the crucial role of HMGA2 in growth regulation, its functional role in human linear growth is unclear.Methods: Patients w...