ESPE Abstracts

The transient activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis shortly after birth has been described as early as in the 70ies. This discovery has since been applied clinically as a ‘window of opportunity’ for diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected of endocrine disorders and differences of sex development. With the advent of increasingly more sensitive and specific analytical methods for peptide and steroid hormones produced in the pituitary, gonads...

Background: Among children with idiopathic short stature, Italian data reported a prevalence of short stature homeobox-containing gene (SHOX) deficiency disorders (SHOX-D) near to 1/1.000-2.000 (1.1-15%) with a wide phenotypic spectrum. Current guidelines support recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy in SHOX-D children, but long-term data are still lacking. This national survey aims to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of rhGH therapy in Italian...

Background: Cis-gender females are known to mount stronger immune responses to invading pathogens or vaccines than cis-gender males. However, this is also associated with increased risk of autoimmunity. Little is known about the immunophenotypes of transgender individuals on gender-affirming hormonal treatment, despite growing evidence that hormones influence the immune system. Via the process of class-switch recombination (CSR), B-cell immunoglobulin isotype ...

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells loss. Apo1/Fas, a glycosylated surface protein, is implicated in maintaining homeostasis of the immune system. Cytokeratin-18 (cCK-18) is a predictive marker of liver disorders in T2DM. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is considered a candidate gene for susceptibility to diabetes mellitus. Aim: To investigate the possible role of Apo1/Fas, cCK-...

Cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) is one of the main complications of cystic fibrosis (CF), following inflammatory-degenerative damage of the pancreas. Aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of replacement insulin therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis complicated by overt diabetes or pre-diabetes on BMI and respiratory function. We selected a sample of 17 insulin treated patients (Group T) and a sample of 17 controls with CF but normal glucose metabolism (Group ...

Background: Thyroid hormone plays a key role in bone mineral homeostasis and significant alterations in its circulating levels have been associated with an impairment in skeletal growth during childhood. To date, the effects of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) on bones have not been studied and the management of this condition is still debated.Aim: To evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) in children with mild, persistent S...

Background: Growth hormone plays a primary role in stimulating postnatal growth by way of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) which is produced in the liver in response to GH. A deficiency of GH arrests maturation during childhood, and the stature of such subjects is generally much shorter than the average stature. However, some cases of GH deficiency attain normal stature as adults.Case presentation: A 20 years old man was referred for a further evaluat...

Objective: AMH causes fetal paramesonephric duct regression and is involved in testicular development and function. Sertoli cell AMH remains high during childhood until puberty. The appendix testis (AT), a remnant of the paramesonephric duct, contains both androgen and estrogen receptors. AT androgen receptors have been reported to play a role in embryonic testicular descent. The AT is commonly resected during orchiopexy and abdominal surgery as possible torsion in the future ...

Background: Decreased serum adiponectin levels are associated with obesity and peripheral insulin resistance (IR). PCOS is characterized by hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation and frequently is associated to IR. Some defects of Insulin Receptor have been proposed as mechanisms to explain ovarian hyperandrogenism in PCOS.Objectives: To explore adiponectin levels in adolescents with PCOS and to evaluate if adiponectin would identify potential patients...

Background: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a monogenic form of diabetes that accounts for 2–5% of all cases but it is underestimated because it’s often misdiagnosed as T1D or T2D whose symptoms are often overlapping. It is a phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous disorder characterised by autosomal dominant inheritance, a young age of onset and pancreatic β-cell dysfunction.Objective and hypotheses: Actually in about ...