ESPE Abstracts

Background: Pubertal gynaecomastia is thought to be a clinical sign of an oestrogen-androgen imbalance, affecting up to 60% of boys. In most cases no underlying endocrinopathy can be identified. In boys, Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by immature Sertoli cells and circulating level decreases as testosterone increases during pubertal maturation. In a previous cross sectional study we found significant lower levels of AMH in boys with pubertal gynaecomastia (Mieri...

Background: The anogenital distance (AGD) is a well-known measure in rodents used to distinguish male and female pubs. Likewise, AGD display sex-specific differences in humans. It is considered a postnatal readout of early androgen exposure in fetal life. Thus, in postnatal life AGD is longer in boys than in girls, reduced in infants born with cryptorchidism and hypospadias as well as in boys exposed to anti-androgenic agents in fetal life. However, little is ...

Introduction: Dyslipidemia has been recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Studies showed that the development of atherosclerotic lesions begins in childhood and progresses throughout life. While the prevalence of dyslipidemia in adults has been reported to be 10 times higher in Lebanon, there is no available data on the prevalence of dyslipidemic children in Lebanon.Objectives: This study was conducted to check if a protocol for univer...

Introduction: Studies about pubertal onset and the menarcheal age in girls with the antecedent of idiopathic premature adrenarche (IPA) are limited and with discordant results. For these reasons, we created a cohort of girls with the diagnosis of IPA. The objectives of our study were: a) to know the age of pubertal onset; b) to evaluate menarcheal age; c) to determine the growth rate in the first two years after the IPA diagnosis; d) to collect adult height da...

Patients with autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), develop autoantibodies to multiple self-proteins. The patients have high titer autoantibodies to multiple cytokines, most prominently to type 1 interferons and cytokines associated with Th17 cell functions. In addition to these signature autoantibodies, APECED patients develop autoantibodies to many other self-proteins characteristic to autoimmune diseases and display broad autoantibody repe...

Central hypothyroidism (CeH) can be defined as a lower than desirable secretion of thyroid hormone by a normal thyroid gland resulting from (quantitative or qualitative) insufficient TSH secretion. Causes are congenital and acquired functional or anatomic defects of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland or both. CeH can be difficult to diagnose, especially in children without a history of brain defects or brain damaging treatment (e.g. irradiation), and when plasma FT4 concentrati...

Background and aim: Metformin is widely used in Type 2 diabetes, with increasing reports of a potential bone protective role. We investigated the role of AMPK in mediating the effects of metformin on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation to either osteoblasts or adipocytes.Methods: Confluent mouse MSCs (C3H10T1/2), wild type (WT) and AMPK knockout (KO) mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) were treated with metformin(500 μM), AMPK-activator A769662(...

Introduction: The Body Mass Index (BMI) is an essential indicator for the nutritional assessment of children and reflects the exposure to health conditions that are harmful to the development of this population.Objective: To analyze the temporal trends of the BMI of Brazilian children aged 5-10 between 2010 and 2022.Patients and methods: Descriptive ecological study. Data obtained ...

Introduction: Protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) is a well-established genetic locus of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The aim of the present study is to compare the methylation level of PTPN22 between children and adolescents of Greek origin with T1D and healthy controls.Patients and Methods: Twenty T1D participants and 20 age-/gender-matched healthy youngsters were enrolled. DNA was extracted from white blood cells, the...

Background: The male Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis undergoes a transient activity phase during the first months of life with surging serum concentrations of reproductive hormones. Theoretically, the hormonal surge could represent a passive postnatal feedback to the withdrawal from the high sex steroid levels in pregnancy. However, we believe that minipuberty rather represents an active, tightly genetically-regulated biological process. We therefore...