ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Rapidly rising rates of childhood obesity (CO) are a current problem, and European and national data confirm the concern. CO comorbidities occur early and tend to persist into adulthood, negatively affecting long-term health. There is an urgent need to implement CO prevention programs, starting in the early years of life. In Southern Italy, an innovative health project, “EpPOI: Educate to Prevent Childhood Obesity,” has been establish...

Background: MKRN3 (Makorin Ring Finger Protein 3) is a maternally imprinted intronless gene located in the Prader-Willi syndrome locus (chromosome 15q11.2-q13). It is recognized that MKRN3 loss-of-function mutations are the primary cause of familial central precocious puberty (CPP). The MKRN3 protein primarily acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase, and its activity is essential for controlling the timing of puberty, functioning as a brake on gonadotropin-releasing ho...

Maternal nutrition can have significant long-term consequences on energy homeostasis in the offspring. However, whether resveratrol, with antioxidant and anti-obesity actions, can improve the impact of poor maternal nutrition on offspring metabolism remains largely unknown. We hypothesized that resveratrol intake by dams would protect the offspring against the harmful effects of a maternal high fat diet (HFD). We also determined if resveratrol’s effects are diet and sex d...

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 2 plays a fundamental role in prenatal growth and development. The IGF2 gene is imprinted, with the paternally inherited copy being active and the maternal copy being silenced in most tissues. During development, the expression of IGF2 is sexually dimorphic in some tissues and this is thought to be involved in the development of some sexually dimorphic features. For example, IGF2 expression is reported to be higher in the male brain co...

Background: T1DM incidence in children varies across regions and countries, showing a continue rise Worldwide.Objective and hypotheses: To determine the incidence of T1D in Chilean children under 20 years between 2006 and 2012.Method: We reviewed mandatory notifications of T1D (GES Program) in Chile’s public health system in population younger than 20 years between 2006 and 2014. Data were obtained from the Department of Infor...

Background: Neonatal over-nutrition (NON) can increase the propensity to become overweight and develop associated metabolic disturbances in later life. Moreover, some of these long-term effects are sexually dimorphic.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to determine how NON affects body weight (BW), body composition and triglyceride (TG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) levels. We hypothesized that the effects would be both age and sex dependant.<...

Background: Approximately 15 million children are born preterm worldwide yearly.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate spontaneous growth during the first 8 years of life.Hypotheses: Preterm born children have spontaneous recovery of weight and height in the first 8 years of life.Method: Measurements at birth, 6, 12 and 24 months of corrected age and at recall [6.4±0.5 years (5.2–8.0)]. Weight, lengt...

Background: Circadian disorganization of feeding behavior evoked by high fat diet (HFD) intake is suggested to be involved in the resulting weight gain and development of associated metabolic alterations and hypothalamic inflammation.Hypothesis: We hypothesized that this circadian alteration might be a consequence of rapid de-synchronization of different gene clusters relevant for metabolic control.Methods: We analyzed the circadia...

Introduction: Obesity is known to associate with chronic systemic inflammation. However, hypothalamic inflammation also occurs in response to high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and is proposed to participate in central insulin/leptin resistance and the perpetuation of weight gain and systemic affectation. The weight gain and central responses to HFD differ between males and females. As hypothalamic glial cells are implicated in the central inflammatory response we hypothesize...

Background: Neonatal over-nutrition (NON) can have a long-term effects on energy homeostasis and some of these effects may be sexually dimorphic.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to determine how NON affects body weight (BW), body composition and cytokine levels throughout development and if these changes are sexually dimorphic. We hypothesised that the effects would be both age and sex dependant.Methods: At birth, Wistar rats wer...