ESPE Abstracts

Background: The increasing incidence of obesity is a serious global public health challenge. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system, including adipose tissue. Increasing evidence from epidemiological, animal, and in vitro studies shows that EDCs, in particular bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates (e.g. di-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate, DEHP), can affect body weight, adipogenesis and circulating lipid profile,...

Background: Over the past several decades, the age of pubertal onset in girls has shifted downward worldwide. Several factors including genetic predisposition, psychosocial and socio-economic conditions, diet and ethnicity may have contributed to this phenomenon. Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that the exposure to BPA and DEHP may be associated with early onset of puberty in girls.Objective: To investigate...

Background: The increasing incidence of obesity is a global public health challenge. Although energy imbalance is the major cause of obesity, evidence suggests that other risk factors such as exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may contribute to the development of obesity. Early life exposure to obesogens may result in a higher risk of developing obesity. Among the chemicals suspected to have obesogenic effects, bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are under worldwid...

Background: Over the past several decades, the age of pubertal onset in girls has shifted downward worldwide. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during critical windows of development may play a role in this trend. Epidemiological and animal studies showed that exposure to phthalates and BPA could be associated with earlier puberty onset in girls.Objective: To investigate the association between the exposure to BPA, DEHP’s metabolites...

Background: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as flame retardants and have shown endocrine disruption properties in experimental studies. Preliminary studies in animal models have suggested a link between exposure to PBDE and alterations of puberty and reproduction.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the association between the exposure to PBDEs and alterations of puberty in girls, referred for idiopathic premature thelarche (IP...

It is known that almost 180 million children in the world have stunted growth. Most of these children live in eastern and central Africa and in South-central Asia. Among multiple factors causing stunted growth in the developing world, malnutrition is the most important one. On the other hand, reduced caloric intake is also a cause of poor statural growth in developed countries.Mammals, including humans, exposed to malnutrition experience poor bone growth...

Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a group of seven transcription factors, including p65 (RelA), c-Rel, RelB, p50/p105 (NF-κB1), and p52/p100 (NF-κB2). Upon activation by a wide variety of stimuli, NF-κB translocates to the nucleus, where it modulates the expression of target genes involved in cell growth, survival, and death.Previous evidence indicates that NF-κB regulates bone growth and development. Mice deficient in both the N...

Introduction: in females with precocious thelarche (PT) (< 8 years), elevation of morning luteinizing hormone levels (mLH) may be indicative of pubertal activation of the pituitary gonadal axis. However, this approach could not be satisfactory in real life management of PT due to the risk of reduced specificity and sensitivity of the mLH thresholds. We propose a diagnostic flow-chart based on basal and stimulated gonadotrophins integrated with bone age and ...

Background: McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS) is a sporadic and rare disorder, clinically defined by the classic triad of cafè-au-lait skin lesions, polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, and peripheral precocious puberty. Precocious puberty is common in girls, but has been reported in only 15% of affected boys. Clinical trials on therapeutic management of precocious puberty in MAS boys are limited to case reports or small patient cohorts and no data are reported about final he...

Introduction: Childhood obesity is known to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications in adulthood.Objectives: To evaluate precocious cardiovascular sonographic modifications in a cohort of overweight (OW) and obese (OB) children and adolescents brought to Outpatient Clinic of Pediatric Endocrinology for first evaluation, compared with normal weight controls. 2) To investigate the association between clinical and ...