ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth is a multifactorial process involving genetic, nutritional and other environmental determinants. Because of a major proportion of ultimate stature is dependent upon an intact GH and IGF1 axis, much attention has been devoted to abnormalities related to these growth factors and their signalling pathways.Objective and hypotheses: At the tissue level, the action of GH result from the interaction of GH with a specific cell surface GH recep...

Aim: Few data are currently available on the reliability of the different anthropometric, instrumental and biochemical indexes in recognizing the presence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in severe childhood obesity. The objective of our study was to find out a simple and accurate index to use in deciding whether to initiate a search for MetS in this at-risk population.Patients and Methods: A retrospective study based on...

Objective: There is no agreement about which index of adiposity and/or body composition is the most accurate in identifying the metabolic syndrome (METS). The aim of our study was to compare the accuracy of the different indexes in order to recognize the most reliable.Study Design: We evaluated 1332 obese children and adolescents (778 females and 554 males), aged 14.4 ± 1.8 yrs., Body Mass Index (BMI) standard devia...

Background: Growth hormone (GH) has been shown to reduce insulin sensitivity in Turner girls, however a compensatory increase of insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells usually occurs, probably stimulated by GH itself. Oral disposition index (ODI) express the capacity of beta cells to adapt to insulin sensitivity.Objective and hypotheses: To study longitudinally the insulin sensitivity (HOMA-S), the insulin secretion (IGI) and the ODI in a group of gi...

Background: Several studies have examined the relationship between type 1 diabetes and bone mass, which reported contradictory data on BMD, bone remodelling markers, and bone quality. Nevertheless an incresead prevalence of osteopenia was observed among patients with duration of disease of >6 years.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to investigate the potential negative impact of type 1 diabetes on bone status in a group of children w...

Background: GH has been shown to influence glucose homeostasis through a negative effect on insulin sensitivity followed by a compensatory increase of insulin secretion. However it has been recently reported, in animals and in humans, that GH might stimulate insulin secretion also through a direct effect on the growth and on the function of the pancreatic β cell.Objective and hypotheses: To study longitudinally the insulin sensitivity (HOMA-S), the ...

Background: Several studies have examined the relationship between type 1 diabetes and bone mass, which reported contradictory data on BMD, bone remodelling markers and bone quality. Nevertheless an incresead prevalence of osteopenia was observed among patients with duration of disease of >6 years.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to investigate the potential negative impact of type 1 diabetes on bone status in a group of children wi...

Background: Mild TSH elevations are frequently observed in obese patients, in the absence of any detectable thyroid disease.Aims and objective: To evaluate possible causes for the raised TSH levels and to verify possible biochemical and clinical consequences of this condition.Methods: We evaluated 779 (325 males/454 females) obese children, chronological age 14.38±2.56 (range 5.25 to 18.50), height SDS 0.27±1.04 (range &#...

Background: GH has a strong positive influence on bone stimulating both bone elongation and increase in size by enhancing the accrual of trabecular and cortical bone up to the attainment of peak bone mass in young adult.Aim of the study: We compared the effect of two different GH dosages on statural growth and bone geometry in two groups of GH-deficient children at final height. Data has been collected retrospectively from 1994 to 2013.<p class="abst...

Background: During the last years, it has been sporadically reported that Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) may follow one another in the same individuals, due to a sequential phenotypic conversion from GD to HT or vice versa.Objective and hypotheses: To shed further light on the specific relationships between Down syndrome (DS) and metamorphic thyroid autoimmunity.Method: We have reconstructed the con...