ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Age at pubertal onset is a markedly inherited trait. The most common cause of pubertal delay, self-limited pubertal delay, is defined by the absence of secondary sexual characteristics after 13 years in girls and 14 years in boys, with progression before age 18. This study aimed to detect novel candidate genes for self-limited pubertal delay.Methods: Eighty-one patients with confirmed self-limited delayed p...

Background: Previously we showed that pubertal children born small for gestational age (SGA) with a poor adult height (AH) expectation can benefit from treatment with GH 1 mg/m2 per day (~0.033 mg/kg per day) in combination with 2 years of GnRH analogue (GnRHa) and even more so with a double GH dose. GnRHa treatment is thought to have negative effects on body composition and blood pressure. Long-term effects and GH-dose effects on metabolic health in children treate...

Introduction: Male puberty is initiated by endocrine signaling in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis whereby follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) enable testicular maturation and synthesis of testosterone. Recent publications have eluded to overnutrition and obesity as relevant factors that may accelerate the timing of puberty. Attainment of testicular volume (TV) 4 ml measured by Prader orchidometer remains the definition of male puber...

Background: Prevalence and severity of obesity and associated comorbidities are increasing in adolescents. Data on neck and upper arm (UA) circumference in addition to established anthropometric measures to define cardiometabolic risk are limited to date.Methods: Data from Phase I of the EU-funded PreSTART-study (trial registration number NCT02545140) was applied. Demographic, clinical, biochemical and lifestyle data were collected in adolescent...

Background: Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), ranging from complete (CAIS) to partial (PAIS) and to mild (MAIS) forms of androgen resistance, is caused by mutations in the X-linked AR gene that encodes the androgen receptor. Some cases, however, remain without a molecular genetic diagnosis that would confirm the diagnosis especially in cases that have phenotypic similarities with other 46,XY disorders of sex development.Objective and hypoth...

Background: While GH therapy forms the mainstay of growth promoting treatment for Turner syndrome (TS), adjunctive use of oxandrolone and optimal timing of pubertal induction remain controversial. The previously published interim analysis of this randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial demonstrated that oxandrolone and pubertal induction at 14y vs 12y significantly increased final height. However, these effects were not additive.Objective: To up...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) affects 1:2,500 females and results from complete or partial loss of one of the X chromosomes. Typical traits associated with TS include short stature, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular and endocrine disorders. Long-term follow-up is needed from the time of presentation into adult life. Several genetic mechanisms have been proposed to account for the development of TS-associated featur...

Background: There is increasing evidence from epidemiological studies that some man-made chemicals present in the environment can disrupt endocrine homeostasis in exposed humans. Exposure during foetal life to e.g. phthalates has been linked to adverse effects on testicular and ovarian development, thyroid homeostasis and growth in postnatal life. Exposure to phthalates fluctuates not only from day to day but also over time which poses a major challenge for ex...

Objectives: Achondroplasia (ACH), caused by a mutation in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene (FGFR3), leads to inhibition of endochondral bone growth. Vosoritide is a biological analogue of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), a potent stimulator of endochondral bone growth. A Phase 2, open-label, sequential cohort, dose-escalation study was conducted to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of vosoritide for 24 months in children with ACH aged 5&#150...

Currently, the majority of patients with DSD do not have a molecular diagnosis. Although high throughput sequencing is having an impact on the clinical diagnosis of DSD the accurate interpretation genomic datasets of the identification of new gene mutations causing DSD is challenging. This is due to emerging evidence that DSD may be caused by mutations in many different genes and the prevalence of mutations in a single gene may be very low. As larger number of DSD patients are...