ESPE Abstracts

Background: Spermatogonia contain processing bodies (P-bodies) that harbour P-element induced wimpy testis (Piwi) proteins associated specifically with Piwi-interacting RNAs to silence transposable DNA elements. In mice loss-of-function mutations in the Piwi pathway lead to de-repression of transposable elements, resulting in male-specific sterility.Objective and hypotheses: No previous studies have examined expression of transposons silencing gene micro...

Background: The lipodystrophy syndromes are a heterogeneous group of congenital or acquired disorders characterized by either complete or partial lack of adipose tissue (lipoatrophy). Berardinelli Seip congenital lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare metabolic disorder characterized by severe generalised lipodystrophy since birth, insulin resistance, and dyslipemia since early infancy.Case presentation: We report a 6-year-old girl who arrived from Pakistan with...

Background: Children with ISS have an array of causes that lead to short stature and/or poor growth velocity. Genetic causes of short stature, notably SHOX mutations, can be associated with subtle skeletal disproportion with shorter limbs, manifesting as increased sitting-to-standing height ratios or SDS.Objective and hypothesis: Children with ISS and skeletal disproportions have a diminished growth response to GH treatment compared to chi...

Background: The pituitary set-point for TSH synthesis and secretion is known to be an individual parameter with a strong genetic influence. Type II iodothyronine deiodinase is a pituitary enzyme involved in local deiodination of T4 and negative feed-back loop for TSH secretion. Defects in DIO2 have not been reported in humans; however, Dio2 knockout mouse has pituitary resistance to T4 with elevated TSH, T4 and TSH/T4 ratio, with nor...

Background: Iodotyrosine deiodinase (DEHAL1) is a thyroidal enzyme that deiodinates mono- and diiodtyrosines (MIT, DIT) and recycles iodine, essential for synthesis of thyroid hormone. Iodotyrosine deiodinase deficiency leads to hypothyroidism, goiter and variable mental retardation. The age for clinical onset was reportedly very diverse, allegedly related to individual iodine nutrition.Clinical case: We report on a boy, offspring of consanguineous paren...

Background: There is increasing interest in vitamin D nutrition during pregnancy because of widespread reports of a high prevalence of low vitamin D status in pregnant women in high-latitude areas. It has been related to adverse events in mother and child. Neonates present a greater risk of hypocalcaemia, rickets and a higher incidence of infections during the 1st year of life.Objective and hypotheses: Real situation of pregnant women and newborn in rela...

Introduction: Prolonged evolution of an untreated hypothyroidism can lead to thyrotropic cell hyperplasia, which could be indistinguishable from a pituitary macroadnoma on resonance. Differential diagnosis is very important since it allows to avoid aggressive therapeutic behaviors.Case report: We show a 3-year-old girl who, in the context of a study due to psychomotor retardation, borderline head circumference and coarse features, presented in magnetic r...

Objectives: Somatrogon is a long-acting recombinant human growth hormone (GH) approved in the EU and other countries for once-weekly treatment of pediatric patients with GH deficiency (GHD). In this analysis, height outcomes of somatrogon-treated patients in a phase 3 trial (CP-4-006) were compared with historical data from matched somatropin-treated patients enrolled in KIGS.Methods: In trial CP-4-006, patients were ran...

Background: Mutations in SHOX or its regulatory regions have been detected in ~70% of Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) and ~2.5% of idiopathic short stature (ISS) cases, suggesting the implication of other genes or loci. Recent studies have identified NPR2 defects in ISS patients.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate if NPR2 mutations can account for a proportion of the cases referred for LWD and ISS in whom no SHOX/PAR1 mutation was detected.<...

Introduction: Childhood obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are rising in prevalence, increasing the future adults' cardio-metabolic risk. One of the potential mechanisms behind these alterations is oxidative stress, fruit of increased free radical production and diminished antioxidant defense. Although low plasma vitamin concentrations and oxidative stress have been observed to be associated with obesity in adults and children, their association with IR i...