ESPE Abstracts

Background: Childhood obesity is considered to be an epidemic in developed countries that can negatively affect children’s health and psychology.Aims and objectives: To investigate the nutritional and environmental factors that lead to the presence of childhood obesity and its complications.Methods: A total of 949 students, 3–12 years old, living in Sparta–Greece, have participated in our research. Their lifestyle an...

Introduction: Gliomas are the most common solid tumours during childhood. In children with neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) and optic pathway glioma (OPG), growth hormone excess has been described. However, this phenomenon has not been reported in children with OPG without NF1. We aimed to describe the growth and IGFs/IGFBP3 levels in a large cohort of paediatric patients with non-NF1- associated central nervous system (CNS) tumours.Method...

Introduction: NS is a relative frequent cause of short stature (ST) in pediatrics and its diagnosis is based on a combination of typical facial features, ST, chest wall defects, cardiac defects, developmental delay, cryptorchidism, lymphatic dysplasia, and family history (“Van Der Burgt Criteria”, revised 2007). Around 50% of NS patients presents a pathogenic variant in the PTPN11 gene. The overlap with other conditions, phenotypic changes...

Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) is the obligatory redox partner of steroid and drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450s located in the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutations in POR cause a broad range of disorders like congenital adrenal hyperplasia that may resemble bone malformations resembling Antley-Bixler syndrome. Genome sequencing studies have revealed the existence of a POR missense variant P228. We aimed to determine the detailed functional impact of POR variant P228L for it...

Background: Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) is a very rare dominantly inherited autosomal bone disorder mainly characterized by hypoplasia or aplasia of clavicles, failure of cranial suture closure, dental anomalies, short stature, and other changes in skeletal patterning and growth. Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations cause the majority of the abnormalities in the run-related transcription factor 2 gene (RUNX2). This gene is located on chromosome 6p21 and i...

Background: Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents one of the most challenging public health problems of our century. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Greece is approximately 21% in children younger than 6 years and up to 40% in older children and adolescents. Mild elevations of TSH concentrations are often detected in obese children and adolescents.Aim: To investigate the thyroid function in overweig...

Introduction: The placenta is an endocrine organ vital to fetal growth. It has multiple functions: pregnancy maintenance, nutrient and oxygen transport to the fetus, and removal of waste products among other functions. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins are significant mediators of these functions. A description of their global expression in healthy placenta may increase our understanding of the molecular biological pathways that are important for normal fetal gr...

Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA) is a chronic autoinflammatory disease, with significant complications that can give short-term and long-term disability with reduced quality of life. Growth delay and short stature are described in >40% of cases, with a complex pathogenesis. Chronic inflammation, long-term corticosteroids treatment, hepatic involvement, malnutrition decrease IGF-1 and GH biological effects. Corticosteroids inhibit growth velocity, bone maturatio...

Introduction: Diagnosing growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children is complex. Spontaneous growth hormone (GH) pulses during late night may influence the pituitary GH response to provocation tests. We evaluated refractoriness during arginine-insulin-tolerance test (AITT) when having a GH-peak during a short spontaneous nocturnal profile in children with short stature.Methods: Altogether 257 children 0-18 years were exa...

Background: The diagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) is not straightforward in childhood and adolescence, requiring comprehensive clinical, anthropometric, biochemical, endocrine, and neuroradiological assessment. Although pharmacological GH stimulation tests are still considered the gold standard for GHD diagnosis, they are burdened by both poor specificity and side effects. Several studies have addressed the issue of sensitivity and specificity of IGFBP-3 assess...