ESPE Abstracts

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...

Context: The early activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis during infancy can be used in the evaluation of infants suspected of disorders of sex development (DSD). However, few data exists on sex-specific reference ranges for these hormones during early life.Objective: To evaluate sex-differences in reproductive hormone concentrations in serum from healthy infants in order to define sex-specific cut-off values and to apply these in infants ...

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: Presence of current acne is well described in adolescents and adults with altered sex steroid levels, e.g., in polycystic ovarian syndrome, androgen producing tumors and misuse of anabolic androgenic substances. However, less is known about the impact of physiological concentrations of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) quantified by gold standard LC-MS/MS methodologies on the development of acne in healthy adolescent boys and girls.<p ...

Background & Aim: The national Danish assessment and hormone treatment program for transgender adolescents started in 2016 and follows international guidelines. We aim to investigate the effects of hormone therapy on the sex steroid metabolite profile and gonadotropins.Methods: This observational study includes 219 transgender adolescents who started hormone therapy before 18 years of age comprising 55 individuals as...

Introduction: Management of children with adrenal disorders such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia involves thorough clinical monitoring, including measurements of plasma renin concentrations (PRC) and ACTH. However, sex- and age-related reference intervals (RIs) for PRC and ACTH using novel immunoassays are needed.Aim: To evaluate circulating concentrations of renin and ACTH in children and adolescents from the general ...