ESPE Abstracts

Background: Congenital hypopituitarism (CH) is characterized by a deficiency of one or more pituitary hormones. Mutations in the genes coding for transcription factors, such HESX1, involved in the development of the pituitary, determine a highly variable phenotype which may include severe midline defects, septo-optic dysplasia and other congenital abnormalities. A small number of HESX1 variants have been identified in humans. The phenotype sh...

The diagnosis of central adrenal insufficiency (CAI) is challenging. The most popular diagnostic tool in pediatric population remains low-dose (1 μg) cosyntropin (LDC) test. Nevertheless, there is still a need for the CAI markers that might be used on an outpatient setting as a first-line screening. In adult patients morning cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) has been postulated as a possible markers. The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of ...

Purpose: Anorexia nervosa (AN) increases the risk of impaired bone health, low areal bone mineral density (aBMD), and subsequent fractures. This study investigated the long-term effects on bone and biomarkers in young women with AN.Methods: Twenty-five Swedish female AN patients, median age 21.0 years (16.1 to 24.3 years), median BMI 15.4 kg/m2, were included, 22 patients completed a high-energy in-patient treatment for ...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide effects on child health globally. Increased prevalence of childhood obesity has been observed during the pandemic. The absence of a formal societal lockdown during the pandemic, made Sweden stand out compared to other countries. Several studies have shown increases in obesity in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. These studies mainly focused on school age children and adolescents in countries that underwent pe...

Background: Pediatric patients with germline pathogenic variants in the tumor suppressor gene PTEN frequently develop cancer and adipose tissue overgrowth in the form of lipomas. While the canonical function of the phosphatase PTEN is to antagonize the growth promoting PI3K pathway, non-canonical PTEN functions e.g. in the nucleus are less well described. To uncover the mechanisms leading to lipoma formation related to PTEN mutations, we previously performed R...

Septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) is a rare congenital disorder characterized by a classic triad of optic nerve hypoplasia, agenesis of septum pellucidum and corpus callosum, and hypoplasia of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Up to date, a shared consensus is not available and the diagnosis relies mainly on clinical and neuroradiological findings. Even though few genes have been described as responsible for this syndrome, the precise causes of SOD remain unknown and a combination of...

Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is characterized by low levels of gonadotropins and delayed or absent sexual development. Most of the patients reach the diagnosis in late adolescence or in adulthood. A timely, appropriate diagnosis implicates a better clinical outcome and treatment timing. We describe the clinical case of a 15-year-old girl with primary amenorrhea. Stature and weight were in accordance with mid parental height; Tanner stage: PH2 B1. FSH, LH, oestradiol showed pr...

Acrodysostosis (ACRDYS) (MIM 101800) is a rare autosomal dominant condition affecting skeletal growth and resulting in primary skeletal dysplasia. Two types of ACRDYS have been described and characterized by distinct references on OMIM database. ACRDYS is similar and often confused with PHP1A, but caused by mutations downstream of the genes involved in PHP1A. Most of the patients have de novo variants. Both types of ACRDYS present with similar skeletal abnormalities (dispropor...

Background: Determination of the gonads in men is closely dependent on Sertoli cells differentiation and maturation. Many cases of differences of sex development (DSD) are caused by variations in these processes. The study of the mechanisms underlying these complex conditions is crucial for optimal clinical management and Sertoli cells would be an ideal model for this purpose. Our human Sertoli-like cell model (SLCs) may shed some light on the identification o...

Introduction: Mammalian sex development is directly dependent on gonadal determination. Whole exome sequencing in patients with differences of sex development (DSD) allows the discovery of new factors involved in human sex development. One of these factors is NWD1 (NACHT and WD repeat domain containing 1) a cytosolic protein that seems to play a role in modulating androgen receptor signaling. We identified variants in the NWD1 gene in six und...