ESPE Abstracts

Hypoparathyroidism is treated with oral calcium carbonate and vitamin D analogues to increase serum calcium levels. Recombinant human parathyroid hormone (rhPTH) therapy can be considered in patients with poorly controlled hypocalcaemia or side effects to conventional treatment. Constipation, a known side effect of calcium carbonate, is often easily managed with simple laxatives. We describe resolution of severe constipation by changing conventional treatment to rhPTH. A femal...

Background: Medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) is an autosomal recessive fatty acid β-oxidation defect. The enzyme is important in the breakdown of medium chain fats into acetyl-CoA to produce ketones, alternative energy source when glucose hepatic glycogen stores become depleted during prolonged fasting. In MCADD, during periods of fasting/ acute illness, there are insufficient ketones to compensate for the glucose energy deficit, ...

Down syndrome (DS) is characterized by a higher incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and a high prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) early in life. Children and adults with DS have an increased risk of developing autoimmune thyroid disease, however CH and early SH cannot be explained by thyroid autoimmunity. The etiology of CH and early SH in DS remains to be elucidated. Considering the recently discovered genome-wide transcriptional and epigenetic alterations ...

Background: PHP is a rare heterogeneous genetic disorder causing parathyroid hormone (PTH) resistance. This condition is caused by deficiency of the α subunit of the protein Gs, encoded by GNAS gene. Clinical classification is based on presence or absence of Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO) and multiple or single hormone resistance, to PHP1a/1c and PHP1b respectively.Objective: To describe the clinical and practical management of a case of P...

Background: GH deficiency (GHD) occurs in one in 4000–one in 10 000 children, but can also be diagnosed in adults.1 GHD therapy typically requires injections over a period of years.2 Adherence to long-term GHT presents a challenge.Objective and hypotheses: This study describes the rates of adherence to GHT among patients with GHD.Method: Members who were continuously enrolled 6 months pre- and 12 months p...

Background: Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is the most common thyroid disorder in the paediatric age range. However, the development of thyroid dysfunction in biochemically euthyroid children with positive TPOAbs and associated risk factors is unclear.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the evolution of children with positive TPOAbs and normal thyroid function and identify predictive factors for the development of thyroid dysfunction.<p class="a...

Background: The imbalance between oxidant-antioxidant status plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Studies have described that children with AITD have reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and significantly low zinc levels. This study assessed the effect of daily zinc supplementation for 12 weeks on thyroid auto-antibodies - thyroid peroxidase antibody (...

Growth response to daily GH treatment can be predicted using pre-treatment gene expression profiles.1 Once-weekly GH treatment potentially reduces the burden of daily injections2 and thus may be a major advancement in care for patients with GHD, vs standard, daily GH treatment. Here we investigate the prediction of first-year growth response based on pre-treatment blood transcriptome in children with GHD undergoing treatment with daily or once-weekly GH. ...

Background: Alterations of pre- and early postnatal growth can have long lasting impact on adult height, body composition and metabolic health throughout life. In monozygotic twins discordant for prenatal growth due to twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), we previously demonstrated lower cord blood IGF-I concentrations and earlier pubertal maturation, indicative of prenatal programming of endocrine systems, to be linked to reduced final height of the form...

Introduction: Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) is subdivided into two depots by the fascia of Scarpa. The deep SAT (dSAT) and superficial SAT (sSAT) are morphologically and metabolically distinct, with dSAT reportedly being more similar to visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in terms of elevating the risk for obesity-related complications. Conversely, sSAT appears to be more similar to lower-body SAT. The relationship between dSAT and metabolic disease ha...