ESPE Abstracts

Background: Significant changes in metabolism and water equilibrium are registered during pregnancy. However, very limited previous investigations have been carried out on variations of exposure levels and metabolism of non-persistent environmental chemicals during pregnancy.Objective and hypotheses: The objective of this longitudinal study is to describe variation in exposure of pregnant women to environmental chemicals. We hypothesise that variation in...

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemical, has been shown to exert transgenerational effects on adiposity, metabolism, and reproductive outcomes in rodents, indicating epigenetic inheritance. Recent studies of other environmental insults (stress and high-fat diet) have demonstrated a mechanistic role for spermatozoal microRNAs in the transgenerational transmission of acquired paternal traits.Objective and hypotheses: To as...

Background: The circulating steroid metabolome in boys undergoes significant changes during infancy reflecting functional and structural rearrangements of the adrenal glands as well as the transient activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis, also called minipuberty. Studies investigating the serum steroid metabolome dynamics during infancy in a longitudinal manner are however sparse.Objective: We ai...

Background: The male Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis is transiently active during the first months of life with surging serum concentrations of reproductive hormones. This period, termed minipuberty, promotes masculinization, including testicular, and penile growth, as well as further testicular descent in males. It appears to be essential for priming specific cell types, i.e. Sertoli-, Leydig-, and germ cells, including subsequent growth and maturat...

Background: The female gonadal axis is activated in mini-puberty and thereafter it is quiescent until puberty. We have shown that many girls with no clinical sign of puberty in the age group 1-6 yr. have a rather strong luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) response to a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) test. However, stimulated LH and FSH values decreased in the age interval 1-6 yr and no LH/FSH values rose above 0.43. Serum est...

Background: Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), have been associated with insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in non-pregnant adults. By contrast, recent pilot studies of pregnant women found negative associations between phthalates and blood glucose, and a lack of association with BPA. No studies have examined gestational IR or secretion in relation to EDC exposure.Objective: To confirm these re...

Background: Minipuberty denotes a transient activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) hormone axis in infancy. This activation provides an opportunity to examine the gonadal function in infants suspected of hypogonadism before the axis is silenced during childhood. However, female minipuberty remains poorly elucidated. Objective: The study aimed to evaluate dynamic changes in luteinizing hormone (LH), follic...

Background and Aim: Despite the broad individual variation of pubertal maturation, references traditionally describe growth in relation to just chronological age and not biological age. Hence, growth references for the adolescent period have been of limited usefulness for monitoring individual growth in clinic and for research. Especially for children and adolescents with chronic diseases is there a need to better evaluate if changes in SD-scores just before a...

Background: There is increasing evidence from epidemiological studies that some man-made chemicals present in the environment can disrupt endocrine homeostasis in exposed humans. Exposure during foetal life to e.g. phthalates has been linked to adverse effects on testicular and ovarian development, thyroid homeostasis and growth in postnatal life. Exposure to phthalates fluctuates not only from day to day but also over time which poses a major challenge for ex...