ESPE Abstracts

Background: Mesoderm-specific transcript (MEST) is an epoxide α/β-hydrolase protein with catalytic activity that is determinant for the development of adipocytes. The MEST gene is an imprinted gene transcribed only from the paternal allele. Although the mechanism by which MEST overexpression augments fat accumulation and storage in adipocytes has not been fully elucidated, frequent subcellular contacts between MEST-positive endoplasmic reticulum, mi...

Background: The approach to clinical management of Graves’ disease (GD) is debatable.Objective: This study aimed to identify predictors of remission in pediatric GD.Methods: A longitudinal study of 36 children and adolescents with Graves’ disease followed from 1997 to 2017 at a single pediatric tertiary hospital was performed. Clinical and biochemical parameters, including comorbidities, treatment with anti-thyroid drugs ...

Background: Mammary duct ectasia is a bening breast condition which affects primarily middle-aged to elderly women. However, it can occurs wherever there is breast ductal epithelium.Case presentation: A 9-years-old boy was referred to the regional paediatric endocrine clinic from the General Practicioner due to gynaecomastia. Pubic hair development started at the age of 8. Personal and family history were unremarkable except for a history of coping with ...

Background: HABP2 is an extra-cellular matrix protein involved in cell proliferation. Recently, HABP2 was proposed as responsible for the familial clustering of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma (FDTC). However, its involvement was questioned by subsequent studies revealing high prevalence HAPB2 polymorphisms (SNPs) in the general population, leaving its pathogenic role uncertain.Objective and hypotheses: To identify genetic HABP2</e...

Background: Genetic defects in NKX2.1 (chromosome 14q13) are associated with hypothyroidism, choreo-athetotic movements and respiratory distress, known as the “Brain-Lung-Thyroid syndrome”.Objective and hypotheses: To identify the genetic basis of a disorder compatible with the “NKX2.1 syndrome” and extra features outside the typical triad.Patients and methods: 10-year old girl with congenital ...

Background: Childhood obesity is often associated with insulin resistance (IR), which is a key risk factor for the development of comorbidities. The etiologic relation between insulin resistance and obesity is still not completely understood.Objective: In this study a multiplatform metabolomics approach was applied for the first time to elucidate the metabolic alterations in obese children with or without IR. Metabolomics is the revolutionary strategy of...

Background: Liver steatosis (LS) is diagnosed in obesity at very early ages, not exclusively related to overweight severity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the features of patients diagnosed with obesity associated LS (ultrasonography).Method: We retrospectively studied 88 obese (BMI>+2 SDS) children with LS (LS-OB) and 88 age, gender, race and puberty matched obese children without LS (no-LS-OB). BMI-SDS, body composi...

Introduction: Growth without growth hormone (GWGH) is a rare phenomenon described in patients with hypothalamic structural pathology who present a normal growth rate in spite of growth hormone (GH) deficiency and low concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Possible aetiologies involve hyperinsulinaemia, hyperprolactinaemia or hyperleptinaemia; however, the exact mechanism is still unknown.Objective: We ai...

Introduction: Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices have introduced new metrics to assess metabolic situation of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Among them, the glucose management indicator (GMI) provides a proxy to HbA1c, however, these measures do not always match.Purposes: To evaluate the concordance between GMI and HbA1c, and determinate in which scenarios GMI could replace HbA1c.Subjects a...

Background: Liver steatosis (LS) results from ectopic fat deposition and can be present in obesity even at early ages. Similar to insulin resistance, the onset of LS does not seem to depend exclusively upon the severity of obesity and shows a large interindividual variability.Objective: Our objective was to develop a predictive normogram for LS in children and adolescents with obesity ba...