ESPE Abstracts

Background: Perinatal factors seem to influence the onset of puberty. There is some evidence suggesting that being born small for gestational age (SGA) is associated with early puberty, whereas the effect of large size at birth on timing of puberty is not clear.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the timing of puberty in children born SGA and large for gestational age (LGA) compared to children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA).<p class="a...

Background: Over the last years a role for gastrointestinal hormones, such as glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), in the pathogenesis of obesity and its complications, has been hypothesized. However, there are few data for the paediatric population.Objective and hypotheses: To assess whether there is a difference in post-load GLP-1 response in obese children compared to normal-weight peers and to assess the relationship with insulin responses.<p class="ab...

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents one of the most common obesity complications and can progress to non-alcoholic stetohepatitis (NASH). NASH is associated with lower insulin like growth factor I (IGF-1) and IGFBP-3, however no data are available regarding the growth hormone (GH)-IGF-I axis in early stage of NAFLD, characterised by hepatic steatosis.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to investigate the GH-IGF-1 pathway in a ...

Background: Childhood obesity is commonly associated with signs of endothelial dysfunction, characterized by impairment of insulin signaling and vascular NO availability. Recently both these features have been associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, however the role of ER stress in the mechanism/s leading to vascular dysfunction in childhood obesity remains still to be established.Objective and Hypotheses: To evaluate ER stress and insulin-sti...