ESPE Abstracts

The current lifestyle, with a diet increasingly removed from the Mediterranean diet, together with the habitual sedentary lifestyle, is associated with many of the so-called non-communicable diseases, such as the metabolic syndrome. Every day these pathologies are more frequent in pediatrics, so this study has tried to establish the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components in overweight and obese children and assess its impact. METHODS A descriptive study has been c...

Introduction: The influence of sex chromosomes and sex hormones on early human brain development is still poorly understood. Expression of Y chromosome genes may influence aspects of brain maturation in the 46,XY fetus, but the contribution of different Y genes is unknown. Furthermore, a marked increase in testicular testosterone biosynthesis/release from the testis occurs at around 8 weeks post conception (wpc) in the 46,XY fetus, but it is unclear whether te...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) arises from a complete or partial loss of one X chromosome (45,X) and is the most common genetic cause of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) in women. Surprisingly little is understood about the pathogenesis of POI in TS beyond an acknowledged germ cell loss throughout the second trimester. Although X chromosome haploinsufficiency likely contributes, the variability in reproductive phenotype in 45,X TS suggests it is not the o...

Background: Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) deficiency is the commonest monogenic form of non-syndromic obesity. MC4R is a seven transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor implicated in central regulation of body weight. The loss-of-function mutations in MC4R gene will contribute to early-onset obesity associated with hyperinsulinemia, hyperphagia and “binge eating”. We aim to determine the prevalence of MC4R variants in a Pediatrics...

Background and Purpose: Previous studies have shown that autoimmunity in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) begins long before the onset of clinical manifestations. Viruses, such as Coxsackie virus, play an important role in the complex and multifactorial etiology of T1DM. Human hair grows by 1 cm per month. A variety of endogenous molecules such as proteins, metabolites and hormones are incorporated during hair growth, so that a hair sample can pro...

Background/aim: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a group of genetic disorders characterized by impaired insulin secretion, resulting in recurrent hypoglycemia. CHI is the most common cause of severe and persistent hypoglycemia in infancy and childhood that is associated with an increased risk of seizures, developmental delay and permanent brain damage, with lifelong neurodisability if treatment is delayed. The incidence of CHI is estimated to be approximate...

Background: The sonic hedgehog pathway (SHH) regulates CNS development and mutations or abnormal expression of the SHH pathway genes have been identified in epithelial tumors. SHH pathway interacts with Wnt/β-catenin signalling. To date, CTNNB1/β-catenin mutations are the sole molecular abnormality found in adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas (ACPs).Objective and Hypotheses: To analyze the expression pattern of SHH pathway genes in ACPs and its...

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental condition in school-aged children, with a prevalence of 5–8%. In individuals with ADHD, there is an attenuated biologic stress response to challenging situations.Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of an 8-week stress management program, comprising self-applied cognitive exercises, on stress perception and anxiety symptoms, sleep...

Background: Primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) is a rare life-threatening disorder. Data on PAI in children are scanty, with the exception of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD).Objective and hypotheses: Evaluate etiology of PAI in a large cohort of children and characterize clinical presentation in subjects with PAI not due to 21-OHD.Method: Children followed in eight tertiary centers wer...

Context: Deficiency of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (3βHSD2) causes a very rare form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) known as 3βHSD2 deficiency, which is a consequence of biallelic HSD3B2 gene defects. The estimated prevalence is less than 1/1,000,000 live births. Knowledge of comprehensive steroid metabolome patterns in 3βHSD2 deficiency is scarce.Objective: We aimed...