ESPE Abstracts

Background: Sitosterolaemia, or phytosterolaemia, is a disorder of increased plant sterol levels in the body leading to a variable presentation including hypercholesteremia, xanthoma, atherosclerosis and haematological manifestations. Although considered rare, the prevalence is likely underestimated due to the variable phenotype. It is caused by recessively inherited mutations in ABCG5 or ABCG8 which encode the sterol efflux transporters in the gut. Hyperchole...

Background: The adrenal cortex undergoes constant cellular renewal and any effect from recombinant adeno-associated vectors (rAAV) targeting differentiated cells will be transient as extra-chromosomal DNA will be lost by dividing cells. A novel option is to use rAAV to express ectopic adrenocortical enzymes in a stable organ outside the adrenal gland. Our aim was to correct the biochemical phenotype in a mouse model for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) wit...

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic obesity syndrome associated with relative growth hormone deficiency. Scoliosis is a known association of both PWS and growth hormone therapy (GH), although its role in causation remains uncertain. In the literature, short-term and long-term data revealed no adverse effects of GH on scoliosis. As the metabolic and clinical benefit of growth hormone therapy is established in the management of PWS, it is d...