ESPE Abstracts

Background: Differences in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA-)axis functioning have been proposed to underlie gender-specific cardiovascular and neurocognitive disease susceptibility.Objective and hypotheses: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to test the hypothesis that gender-specific differences in HPA-axis activity are already present in childhood.Method: We searched two electronic databases (PubMed ...

Background: In mammals, maternal glucocorticoids are transmitted through breast milk, particularly under stressful circumstances. In humans, it is unclear whether milk cortisol levels are dependent on stressful perinatal circumstances, such as preterm birth.Objective and hypotheses: Our aim was to compare cortisol concentrations in breast milk of mothers of very preterm infants (GA <32 weeks) to breast milk cortisol concentrations of mothers of full-...

Background: Underlying causes of obesity are thought to be rare even in specialized paediatric endocrinology clinics. However, evidence is limited. The Endocrine Society (ES) guideline for paediatric obesity makes the following diagnostic recommendations: endocrine evaluation in presence of reduced growth velocity, evaluation of cerebral obesity in presence of CNS injury, re-evaluation of drug choice in patients using antipsychotics. Genetic testing is recomme...

Background: Early-onset obesity is associated with genetic obesity disorders. According to the Endocrine Society guideline for paediatric obesity, genetic screening is indicated in selected cases with age of onset (AoO) of obesity <5 years. However, this cut-off value lacks evidence. Identifying genetic obesity is vital as treatment for leptin-melanocortin pathway disorders becomes available. We aimed to determine whether AoO of obesity is predictive for g...

Background: Male preterm infants are at increased risk of neonatal mortality when compared to their female counterparts. The mechanisms explaining this male disadvantage are not fully elucidated yet.Objective and hypotheses: To compare glucocorticoid metabolite excretion in urine obtained at day 10 between male and female infants born with a very low birth weight (VLBW; i.e. <1500 g). We hypothesized that male preterm infants have impaired adrenocort...

Background: Preterm survivors are found to exhibit deficits in several neurodevelopmental domains. It is unknown whether this could be explained by antenatal glucocorticoid treatment.Objective and Hypotheses: We studied whether antenatal glucocorticoid treatment is associated with behaviour and IQ in young adults born preterm. In addition, we studied whether these associations could be modified by the R23K and N363S polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid re...

Background: Sex differences in disease susceptibility might be explained by a sexual dimorphism in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, which has been postulated to emerge during puberty. The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of pubertal development to sexual dimorphism in cortisol production and metabolism.Methods: Participants, born between 1995 and 1996, were enrolled from the population-based N...

Background: The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis displays a diurnal rhythm, peaking in the morning and with a nadir at night. However, not much is known about the development of the HPA- axis, although strikingly some evidence suggests that a rhythm with a peak in the afternoon is already present antenatally. We aimed to describe HPA-axis activity at age 1 month as well as study possible influencing factors.Methods</stro...

Background: Paediatric obesity is a multifactorial disease characterized by an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. In rare cases, obesity is caused by underlying medical disorders arising from disruptions in the leptin-melanocortin pathway, which regulates satiety and energy expenditure.Aim: To investigate resting energy expenditure (REE) in relation to body composition in children and adolescents with sever...

Introduction: Childhood obesity is associated with alterations in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. We tested the hypothesis that multiple alterations in the metabolism of glucocorticoids are required for the development of hypertension in children who become overweight.Methods: Timed spot urine for targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry steroid metabolome analysis was collected from (1) overweight/hyp...