ESPE Abstracts

Background: The adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is a 39 amino acid polypeptide secreted by the anterior pituitary and regulates cortisol secretion from the adrenal cortex. Cortisol has negative feedback and regulates the synthesis and secretion of the ACTH. Excess ACTH is associated with a wide range of diseases including congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Classic CAH due to the 21-hydroxylase (CYP21A2) deficiency causes a reduction or loss of cortisol synthesis. Here th...

Introduction: Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic condition associated with feeding difficulties, hypotonia, developmental delay in infancy; hyperphagia leading to extreme obesity, growth failure and behavioral problems in childhood. Coeliac disease (CD), is an autoimmune disease characterized by gluten intolerance and a variety of symptoms most commonly diarrhea or constipation and failure to thrive. In PWS the challenge is to optimize growth while avoiding obesi...

Objectives: Deficiency of the short stature homeobox-containing (SHOX) gene is a potential etiology of short stature in children. The phenotypic spectrum of SHOX deficiency disorders, caused by haploinsufficiency of the SHOX-gene and inherited in a pseudo-autosomal dominant manner, is highly variable, even within the same family, ranging from nonspecific short stature to Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD). Short stature, mesomelia and Madelung deformity define the classic clin...

Introduction: Beta-thalassaemia is caused by point mutations leading to decreased production of beta-globin, which results in defective red blood cells and ineffective erythropoiesis. Complications are microcytic hypochromic anaemia, extramedullary haematopoiesis and increased intestinal iron absorption due to compensation mechanisms. The resulting iron overload can be aggravated by recurrent blood transfusions necessary for treatment of anaemia and may cause several endocrine...

Background: Transient neonatal adrenal dysfunction is reported in association with antiretroviral therapy with Lopinavir and Ritonavir. Other drugs have not been tested.Objective and hypotheses: We report on a preterm girl, born 26 weeks gestation, with elevated 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) at newborn screening. During pregnancy the mother was treated for HIV with Atripla (Efavirenz, Tenofovir, Emtricitabin) and viral load was suppressed. Furthermore t...

Background: Dyslipidemia increases the frequency and severity of micro- and macro-vascular complications of type 1 diabetes.Objective and hypotheses: The present study aims to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia and its association with clinical and laboratory findings in diabetic children and adolescents.Methods: The study included 202 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Demographic data and laboratory findings wer...

Background: Ovarian and uterine development in relation to hormonal feedback mechanisms (E2, LH, FSH, and inhibin) has rarely been studied. Therefore, the age specific and longitudinally adequate replacement dose of estradiol to achieve normal maturation in terms of ovarian and uterine development during infancy, childhood and adolescence remains not well known. However, aromatase deficiency offers an excellent model to study the relevant estradiol dose needed to ac...

Background: DAVID syndrome (deficit in anterior pituitary function and variable immune deficiency) (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 97 E121, 2012) can be caused by NFKB2 mutations (Am J Hum Genet 93 13, 2013). All patients have an orthotopic posterior pituitary (PP) and most only ACTH deficiency.Objective and Hypothesis: To describe a girl with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), ectopic PP (EPP) ...

Background: Expression of SHOX, a transcription factor implicated in skeletal development, is regulated by the interaction of two promoters, weak, P1 (exon 1) and strong, P2 (exon 2), with at least, seven enhancers. SHOX haploinsufficiency, due to mutations in SHOX or its enhancers, explains ~70% of Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) and ~2.5% idiopathic short stature (ISS) cases whilst the underlying molecular mechanism in the remaining is unknown.<p...

Background: SHOX, located on the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1), encodes a transcriptional factor implicated in human skeletal growth. Alterations in SHOX or its regulatory elements are observed in ~70% of patients with Leri–Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD), in ~90% with Langer mesomelic dysplasia (LMD) and ~2.5% of patients with idiopathic short stature (ISS). SHOX deletions/duplications are a frequent alteration, with the majority encompassing the entire gene.<p class...