ESPE Abstracts

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is the master hormone regulating the reproductive axis and its pulsatile secretion is crucial for puberty onset and fertility. Disruption in GnRH neuron development or hypothalamic function can lead to absent or delayed puberty (DP) due to GnRH deficiency, with a phenotypic spectrum from severe delayed puberty to partial or complete Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism (HH). HH can also be present as a shared trait with other neurodevelopmental d...

Objectives: Several different pathogenic mechanisms may converge on a final common pathway to produce the phenotype of delayed pubertal timing. In our cohort of patients with familial self-limited delayed puberty (DP) we have demonstrated mutations in IGSF10 leading to mis-regulation of the embryonic migration of GnRH neurons (Howard et al, EMBO MM 2016). We aimed to discover novel genetic mutations in pathways regulating GnRH neuronal migration and developme...

During development, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons are born in the nasal placode and migrate to the hypothalamus, where they position to regulate sexual reproduction by pulsatile release of GnRH. Defective GnRH neuron development or action may lead to GnRH deficiency (GD) which is characterized by absent or delayed puberty. Several GD causative genes have been identified so far, but half of the cases are still idiopathic. The employment of complementary research...

Innervation of the hypothalamic median eminence by Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) neurons is vital to ensure puberty onset and successful reproduction. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying median eminence development and pubertal timing are incompletely understood. Here we show that Semaphorin-6A is strongly expressed by median eminence-resident oligodendrocytes positioned adjacent to GnRH neuron projections and fenestrated capillaries, and that Sem...

Three patients from two unrelated families in Malta; one consanguineous (siblings: Patient 1, male and Patient 2, female) and one non-consanguineous (Patient 3, male), manifested hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with delayed puberty, intellectual disability, scoliosis, and ataxia with cerebellar hypoplasia on MRI. GnRH tests revealed low peak LH and FSH concentrations in the patients: Patient 1; LH 2.3 IU/L, FSH 4.4 IU/L (14.3y), Patient 2; LH 3.6 IU/L, FSH 6.4 IU/L (12.5y), Pati...