ESPE Abstracts

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most common neonatal endocrine disorder, with an incidence of 1:3000 neonates, and one of the most frequent preventable causes of mental retardation worldwide. Most (65%) cases of primary permanent CH are due to thyroid dysgenesis (TD). However, a genetic cause is identified in less than 5% of CH due to DT.Methods: We performed WES (Whole Exome Sequencing) for siblings with childhood-onset TD and we analy...

Aim of the Study: Cryptorchidism occurs more frequently in CF-children, and malformed epididymis was found more in cryptorchid boys with abrogated mini-puberty. Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) is transporter protein that acts as a chloride channel. Specifically, CFTR is associated with spermatogenesis and fertility.Patients and Methods: Testicular biopsies for histological and RNA analysis from...

Introduction: Propionic Acidaemia (PA), an organic acidaemia, is characterized by episodes of decompensation with severe metabolic acidosis and hyperammonaemia. PA is associated with low bone mineral density and osteoporosis. Hypocalcaemia is known to occur in 35-65% of decompensations, however the underlying pathophysiology remains unclear. PTH resistance has previously only been described in one case of hypocalcaemia in PA and we report the first use of ...

Background: Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b (PHP1b) is caused by epigenetic errors on the maternal GNAS allele at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with exons A/B, XL, and NESP that lead to reduced production of Gαs transcripts most notably in the renal proximal tubule and thyroid follicular cells. Most PHP1b cases appear sporadically, few of which can be explained by paternal uniparental disomy involving chromosome 20q, leading to global methy...

Background: Graves’ disease therapy in young children may be challenging due to lack of therapy options. The safety of Radioiodine Ablation (RIA) has not been proven in children under age of 10 years. Propylthioracil (PTU) therapy has been linked to hepatic failure and became contraindicated in pediatrics.The case: A 6-year-old female was diagnosed with Graves ‘disease and treated with Methimazole (MTZ) and Propranolol. A few days after startin...

Introduction: Most testis expressed (TEX) genes are testis-specific and evolutionarily conserved and several studies have reported important roles of TEX11, TEX12, TEX14, TEX15 and TEX 101 in mammalian fertility. Retrotransposons are thought to be critical for the evolution of mammalian genomes. TEX19 functions in the post-translational regulation of L1 retrotransposons, which are involved in maintaining trans-generational genome stability. In boys with crypto...

Introduction: Multiple studies have demonstrated that histone lysine methyltransferases regulate gene transcription, thereby influencing cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell migration, and tissue invasion.Aim of the study: Here we describe the key functions of histone lysine methyltransferases and chromatin remodeling genes and summarize their role in infertility.Patients and Meth...

Introduction: Reversible post-translational modifications (PTMs) dynamically regulate the activities of numerous proteins. The Small Ubiquitin-related Modifier (SUMO) proteins are conjugated to lysines in their target proteins in a process termed SUMOylation. This PTM regulates, among others, transcription, gene silencing, chromatin structure and DNA repair. Here, we investigated the expression of five SUMO genes in testicular samples from patients with crypto...

Introduction: Resetting the epigenome in human primordial germ cells is critical for their development. It has been shown that a regulatory network established by SOX17 and PRDM1/BLIMP1 represses DNA methylation pathways and activates TET-mediated hydroxymethylation. (1) Testicular samples from high infertility risk (HIR) cryptorchid boys with defective mini-puberty and impaired differentiation of Ad spermatogonia display altered expression of genes encoding h...

Background: In monogenic diabetes due to KCNJ11 and ABCC8 mutations that impair KATP- channel function, sulphonylureas improve long-term glycaemic control. Although KATP channels are extensively expressed in the brain, the effect of sulphonylureas on neurological function has varied widely. We evaluated published evidence about potential effects of sulphonylureas on neurological features, especially epilepsy, cognition, motor function and muscular tone, visuo-...