ESPE Abstracts

Obesity is increasing, and the related complications are well known. Clinical Trials related with specific diets are currently lacking in paediatrics. There is an increasing interest in Mediterranean diet (MD). The Med4Youth European study* has enrolled 240, 13- to 16-year-old subjects with a BMI above the 90th percentile(WHO curves) in a multicenter randomized controlled trial (Italy, Spain and Portugal) to evaluate the effects of MD. We present the data relative to the 80 su...

Background: Hypothalamic obesity (HO), due to midline congenital malformations, genetic diseases or hypothalamo-hypophysis tumours, is severe and difficult to treat. Patients are scarcely compliant to diet and physical activity, for disabilities often affecting them. Drugs have been rarely employed.Objective and hypotheses: Aim of the study was to treat hypopituitaric children and adolescents affected by severe HO with a multidisciplinary approach includ...

Background: An important issue in the management of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the best initial dose of levothyroxine (L-T4) in order to achieve optimal neurocognitive outcomes. Both European and American guidelines suggest an initial dose of 10–15 μg/kg per die but trials on long-term effects of different doses within this range are lacking.Objective and hypotheses: This was a multicenter randomized trial to ev...

Background: OTX2 is expressed in the human brain and plays a key role in the eye development. OTX2 mutations are reported in patients with ano/microphtalmia, optic nerve or optic chiasm hypoplasia, ocular coloboma and retinal dystrophies, associated in some cases with brain or pituitary abnormalities.Objective and hypotheses: Most of OTX2 mutations are nonsense or frameshift, more rarely missense mutations occur.Method: We...

Background: Puberty is characterised by important changes of brain networks. The glutamate system plays a main role in modulating the onset of puberty as shown for NMDA receptor agonists. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Metabotropic mGlu5 receptors (mGluR5) are tightly linked to NMDA receptors. The effect of mGluR5 blockade on neurohormonal mechanisms in puberty initiation were not studied yet.Objective and hypotheses: To invest...

Objective: to assess the prevalence of endocrinopathies in a pediatric population of Rett syndrome (RTT) patients.Design: retrospective observational double center study.Methods: 51 caucasian patients (47 girls, 4 boy) with genetically confirmed diagnosis of RTT were enrolled (mean age: 9.65±5.9 years, range: 1-18 years). The patients were referred from the Rett Center of two It...

Introduction: Familial male-limited precocious puberty (or testotoxicosis) is a very rare genetic disorder with autosomal dominant transmission that causes gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty due to mutations activating the lutropin-chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR), which lead to elevated testosterone levels and suppressed gonadotropins. The age of onset is between 2-5 years essentially with penis and testes enlargement, linear growth accelerati...

Background and Aims: Retesting subjects treated with GH throughout childhood at attainment of final height is of importance to identify those having pGHD and needing replacement treatment during transition years and adulthood, and to avoid overtreatment of GH sufficient subjects. This study aimed at evaluating the clinical and biochemical features of patients diagnosed of isolated idiopathic (II) GHD in childhood at retesting to verify the prevalence of perman...

MOPD is known to be caused by homozygous loss-of-function mutations in a specific gene, PCNT. Both intra- and interfamilial clinical variability (even for the same variant) have been frequently observed, which makes it difficult to infer a genotype–phenotype correlation. Pericentrin (PCTN) is a structural protein expressed in the centrosome that plays a fundamental role in anchoring protein complexes, regulating mitotic cycle and thus cell proliferation. High levels of m...

Background: The increasing incidence of obesity is a serious global public health challenge. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system, including adipose tissue. Increasing evidence from epidemiological, animal, and in vitro studies shows that EDCs, in particular bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates (e.g. di-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate, DEHP), can affect body weight, adipogenesis and circulating lipid profile,...