ESPE Abstracts

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most common endocrine disorder in neonates and is predominantly caused by developmental abnormalities known as thyroid dysgenesis (TD). Several transcription factors have been described in its aetiology, but defects in the known genes only account for a small proportion of cases.Methods: To identify novel genes involved in TD, we performed exome sequencing in 7 unrelated ...

Background: Studying patients with rare Mendelian diabetes has highlighted molecular mechanisms regulating β-cell pathophysiology. Previous, experimental studies have shown that Class IIa histone deacetylases (HDAC4, 5, 7, and 9) modulate mammalian pancreatic endocrine cell differentiation, function and finally glucose homeostasis.Methods: We performed exome sequencing in one adolescent boy with non-autoimmune di...

Background: Mutations in genes involved in insulin secretion or regulation of β cell identity cause both persistent neonatal diabetes (PND) and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy (HHI) pinpointing shared pathogenic mechanisms. KCNQ1 encodes a potassium channel protein, Kv7.1, which is a voltage-gated potassium channel expressed in cardiac tissue, pancreas, inner ear neurons, and other tissues. Variants in or nearby to KCNQ1 were linked t...

Introduction: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a group of rare endocrine disorders characterized by repeated episodes of hypoglycemia caused by an excessive insulin secretion from the pancreas beta cells. The etiopathogenesis, phenotype, treatment, and prognosis of individual CHI cases are variable and not completely described.Aims: To gather and describe clinical and genetic data about CHI cases diagnosed within the large EuRRECa net...

Introduction: The diagnosis and treatment of patients with rare diseases is often difficult as most clinicians do not encounter them. Therefore, centralization and collaboration between centers of expertise is necessary. European Reference Networks (ERN’s) such as RareEndoERN provide a platform for this, with one of its main thematic groups having a specific focus on rare growth and obesity disorders. Genetic obesity encompasses a heterogeneous group of c...

Background: The COVID-19 crisis required paediatric endocrinologists to rapidly adopt telehealth into their clinical practice. Accurate auxology is a cornerstone of paediatric endocrinology care and is needed to monitor growth and guide medication changes. Remote consultations depend upon parent-reported measurements. However, home height measurements are often inaccurate.Aim: We designed a quality improvement study with...

Central precocious puberty (CPP) is one of the most common pediatric endocrine diseases with an ever increasing incidence. CPP is associated with the loss of final adult height, early menarche, psychological problems and an increased risk of developing diseases in later adulthood such as female reproductive system tumors. The gonadotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test (GnRHST) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of CPP. However, the test is costly and time consuming to...

Background: The gold standard for CPP diagnosis is gonadotropin releasing hormone stimulation test (GnRHST). However, this test is expensive, invasive and inconvenient for screening. Some recent studies have demonstrated that the FMV urinary luteinizing hormone (U-LH) has a strong correlation with LH peak value and serum basal LH, and a high consistency with Tanner staging results, but due to the lack of large-sample, multicenter clinical research data, a form...

Introduction: Growth promoting effects of GH occur in parallel with its impact on insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism; underlying biological networks that link these actions are not defined. Our objective was to identify gene expression (GE) networks linking growth with metabolic responses in GH-treated children with GHD.Methods/design: Pre-pubertal children with GH Deficiency GHD (n=125) were enrolled from the PREDICT short-term (NCT002561...

Background: Transient elastography (TE) uses pulsed echo ultrasound to measure the hardness of the liver, showing excellent accuracy in the assessment of fibrosis, and is considered a useful test in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Ultrasound fatty liver indicator (US-FLI) is proposed as a non-invasive, semi-quantitative method for predicting hepatitis in children with NAFLD and may reflect the severity of liver histological changes. US-FLI ≥4 or 6...