ESPE Abstracts

Obesity—defined as excess fat mass which impacts on physical health—is a complex and multifactorial disease where numerous environmental factors (overeating and/or reduced physical activity) act in concert with genetic factors. Understanding molecular mechanisms of obesity has rapidly improved in recent years due to the development of faster, more specific genetic screening tools (1). Rare genetic obesities are distinguished from more-common polygenic obesities where...

Introduction: The leptin-melanocortin pathway plays a key-role in weight control. Pathogenic variants in the five major genes (LEP, LEPR, POMC, PCSK1, MC4R) are associated with early severe obesity. However, the specific associated phenotype with presence of mono-allelic variants and especially BMI trajectories are not well known.Objective: In order to identify specific profiles, we compared BMI trajectories during the f...

Management of patients presenting a chronic endocrine or metabolic disease during transition period is a challenge for multiple reasons. The department of Adult Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine in Pitie Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris has been involved in the management of such patients for many years. However, in our own experience, 81% of patients are still followed-up after 1 year, 71% after 3 years and only 49% after 5 years. Based on such experience, we decid...

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by hyperphagia and abnormal behaviours towards food for both of which no approved treatment is available. Elevated plasma acylated ghrelin (AG) documented at all ages in PWS suggest that the ghrelin system may contribute to the pathophysiology of hyperphagia. Administration of unacylated ghrelin and 8-amino acid analog AZP-531 prevents AG-induced food consumption in animals and improves glucose co...

Background: Children with metabolic syndrome carry an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood. Patients with rare syndromic obesity, such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), experience early-onset, severe obesity, which may convey an increased risk for developing obesity-related comorbidities and metabolic syndrome later in life. In clinical trials, treatment with the melanocortin-4 receptor a...

Introduction: Monogenic defects in the leptin-melanocortin pathway result in hyperphagia and severe, early-onset obesity. Knowledge of the natural history of anthropometric parameters in patients with monogenic obesity is essential for diagnosis. However, reliable data on early childhood weight and height development in affected patients are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the history of height, weight, and BMI development in early childhood in a Europea...