ESPE Abstracts

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) results from premature activation of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, which leads to an increased release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH stimulates the development of secondary sexual features, rapid bone maturation and growth. GnRH agonists (GnRHa) represent the gold-standard therapy in CPP children and their use is responsible for pituitary GnRH receptors down-regulation, luteinizing hormone (L...

Nowadays, after decades of continuously rising rates of paediatric obesity across the world, insulin resistance (IR) in children and adolescents has become a prominent health issue.Obesity is recognised to be the most prevalent pathological cause of IR. However, corticosteroids or growth hormone therapy, genetic diseases and physiological conditions, such as puberty and pregnancy, may affect insulin sensitivity (IS) lifelong.Early ...

Background: Injuries occur frequently in the obese young population even if they need to practice physical activity. The greatest part of Italian adolescents plays sports only at school.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between overweight and obesity, and the risk of injuries in adolescents during school physical activity.Method: This is a retrospective cohort study utilizing the ele...

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...

Background: FGF21 is a hormonal factor with powerful anti-diabetic and anti-obesity properties in adults\. Studies in rodent models indicated that hepatic FGF21 expression and blood FGF21 levels are strongly induced after birth in response to fat provided by milk ingestion. Moreover, preliminary data indicate that FGF21 is present in maternal milk.Objective and hypotheses: Our objective is to determine, using human samples and pre-clinical experimental m...

Background: The endocrine role of white adipose tissue (WAT), as a site of release of the so-called adipokines, has been recognized for long. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is the main site of adaptive thermogenesis in mammals, especially relevant in neonates and early infancy. The amount and activity of BAT are associated with a healthy metabolic profile and protection against obesity, type II diabetes and hyperlipidemia. This biological role of BAT is traditionally attributed to...

Background: Achondroplasia (ACH) and hypochondroplasia (HCH) are the most common forms of chondrodysplasia. ACH is characterized by rhizomelic short stature, macrocephaly and lumber lordosis. Because HCH is clinically milder, HCH is often goes unrecognized in childhood but is diagnosed in adult life when disproportionate short stature becomes obvious.Objective: Although episodic reports showed the recombinant human GH (rhGH) treatment may improve short-t...

The mutation of the SHOX gene is a cause of short stature by varying frequency depending on the published work, but estimated at around 3-10 % of cases of short stature. The main diagnostic scheme for starting genetic testing is the Rappold score, which requires clinical and radiological criteria, under which this form of short stature is framed as a disharmonious. In our clinical experience, however, we also looked for mutations in the SHOX gene in patients with signs of ...

XY, 14 years old, was born at term, birth weight 4900 g, length 54 cm. No problems reported in the early years of life. Due to recurrent abdominal pain for several years associated with dyspepsia, at 13 years he performed blood tests, with evidence of hypocalcemia (6.1 mg/dl) and hyperphosphatemia (8.6 mg/dl). For this reason, he was admitted to our ward: the weight was Kg 67.1 (1.8 SDS), height 168 cm (1.5 SDS), pubertal stage 4, objective examination in the norm. The exams p...