ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Salivary androgens represent a non-invasive marker of puberty that may have utility in population studies as well as in the clinical arena.Objectives: To establish normal reference values of salivary androgens using LC-MS/MS and demonstrate the correlations between salivary androgens and pubertal development in boys.Methods: School-based adolescent cohort study with t...

Background: The short synacthen test (SST) is a popular diagnostic investigation for adrenal insufficiency (AI). Cannulation and blood sampling are required making it invasive, time-consuming and resource-intensive. Salivary cortisol is a well-established alternative to serum sampling.Objective and Hypotheses: To develop a non-invasive alternative to the 1 μg SST, using a novel formulation of Synacthen (with a nasal drug enhancer, chitosan) given na...

Background: Measurement of salivary glucocorticoids is an accepted method for testing adrenal function and is gaining popularity as it offers a non-invasive collection technique, enabling sampling in the community or home environment, allowing tailored capture of steroid circadian rhythm and improved patient experience. However, there is little data on stability during home collection and sampling methods in young children. Current salivary collection techniqu...

Introduction: Worldwide the Short Synacthen Test (SST) is the most popular diagnostic investigation for adrenal insufficiency (AI) amongst both paediatric and adult endocrinologists. Cannulation and blood sampling are required making it invasive, time-consuming and resource-intensive. We have previously validated a reliably absorbed and well tolerated formulation of nasal synacthen (Nasacthin003) in healthy adult males, measuring the glucocorticoid response in salivary cortiso...

Background: Routine biochemical assessment in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) includes measurement of serum 17 hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP), androstenedione (A4) and testosterone (T) and their metabolites in urine. Several studies have also described 11 oxygenated 19 carbon (11oxC19) steroids as a clinically relevant androgenetic source and highlighted their potential as markers for evaluation of adrenal androgen excess in patients with 21-hy...

Endochondral bone formation regulates bone growth both during embryonic development and after birth. Several different autocrine/paracrine or hormonal mechanisms govern the regulation of endochondral bone formation. Among those is the pathway involving stimulatory G protein, which primarily mediates the actions of parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) in the growth plate. PTHrP is synthesized in the perichondrial cells and chondrocytes at the end of bones. In the growing...

Background: Over 800 different mutations in GCK gene have been reported in the Human Gene Mutation Database, the vast majority of which result in monogenic diabetes (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young, MODY type 2). The missense mutation p.Leu122Val is listed in that database as "disease-causing". However, the National Center for Biotechnology Information ClinVar database (Variation ID 585919) reports that this mutation is of "uncertain ...

Background: Autoimmune thyroid diseases are multifactorial diseases with a genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. A potential role of the protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene, the interferon induced helicase domain 1 (IFIH1) gene, the TSH receptor (TSH-R) gene polymorphisms on autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) in children has not been established equivocally yet.Objective and hypotheses: To estimate the association...

Introduction: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) have specific plasma and urinary steroid patterns, with 11-oxygenatedC19 steroids established as key adrenal-specific androgens. Monitoring glucocorticoid (GC) replacement remains a challenge in the absence of reliable biomarkers.Aim: To reassess the urinary steroid profile of children with CAH in relation to plasma ...

Introduction: HLA-G gene is involved in the control of immune response. It plays a primary role on immune tolerance and may participate in controlling autoimmune responses serving as a potential independent susceptibility marker. HLA-G has been isolated in some secretory granules and on the cell surface of primary islet cells induced to secrete insulin. Subsequently, it could be hypothesized that HLA-G methylation at pancreatic islet could sustain T cell activation and onset o...