ESPE Abstracts

The transient activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis shortly after birth has been described as early as in the 70ies. This discovery has since been applied clinically as a ‘window of opportunity’ for diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected of endocrine disorders and differences of sex development. With the advent of increasingly more sensitive and specific analytical methods for peptide and steroid hormones produced in the pituitary, gonads...

Deficiency of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2), a protease that regulates IGF-1 availability, causes postnatal growth failure and changes in bone size and density in humans and mice. The present study aimed to determine the effects of daily administration (from PND5 to PND35) of recombinant murine (rm) PAPP-A2, in comparison to rmGH and rmIGF1, on mouse auxology and bone microarchitecture in homozygous Pappa2 knock-out (ko/ko) mice of both sexes. Hormone treatm...

The growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) system is essential for optimal human growth and energy homeostasis. Deficiency of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2), a protease involved in the liberation of free IGF-1, leads to problems in growth and bone density in humans and mice. Patients with PAPP-A2 deficiency also present lower body mass and mild glucose intolerance. The present study aimed to determine the influence of 1 month of high carbohydr...

Background: The MAMLD1 gene (Xp28) is thought to cause disorder of sex development (DSD) in 46, XY patients, mostly presenting with hypospadias, and, recently, also gonadal dysgenesis. However, there is some controversy about the role of MAMLD1 in sex development because i) some MAMLD1 variants are also detected in normal individuals, ii) others are not present in all affected DSD individuals of the same family; iii) several MAMLD1 mutations...

Introduction: Nephroblastoma or Wilms tumor is the most common pediatric abdominal malignancy. Typically, it is found in children younger than 5 years old, girls being more likely to have Wilms tumor than boys. The etiology of the disease is genetic, due to alteration in the development of the genitourinary tract.[1] Treatment is represented by surgery (unilateral nephrectomy), chemo- and radio-therapy. Paraneoplastic endocrine disorders may occur, but there a...

Background: A close association has been reported between obesity and renal damage in adults, but evidence in childhood is still limited.Methods: We retrospectively studied 396 children and adolescents with obesity. Clinical, biochemical, and instrumental evaluations were performed. Patients were stratified according to the metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) phenotypes. Kidney d...

Background: GH deficiency may not persist into adulthood. Thus, it is recommended to reassess it after reaching adult height. However, according to stimulation tests, they have poor specificity, reproducibility, and poor standardization of hormonal measurement, and they are expensive and involve risks.Objective and hypotheses: Establish if IGF1 would be a better reassessing method than stimulation tests in adult GH defic...

The proband is a Caucasian girl with primary amenorrhea and no breast development at the age of 16 11/12 yrs. Unrelated parents; an older brother in good health and a twin brother (GA 31 days; BW 1450g) with reported agenesis of the corpus callosum and socio-emotional behavioral problems. The mother (menarche 14 yrs. and bicornuate uterus) presented four early spontaneous abortions and one stillborn fetus (46, XX) in the 6th month of pregnancy; remaining negative family histor...

Introduction: Diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and idiopathic short stature (ISS) is not straightforward. Nowadays growth hormone (GH) stimulation tests play a key role in the diagnosis but they are controversial due to the lack of normative data, poor reproducibility and poor disease concordance.The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is also a tool in the study of patients with short stature. Structural alterations of the hypo...

Background: The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is multifactorial, caused by interaction of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors that lead to the production of antibodies early on life and a gradual loss of insulin secretory capacity of the pancreas. The genetics and immunological characteristics of our T1D population have not been precisely identified.Objective and hypotheses: To compare biochemical, genetic and immunological features of ...