ESPE Abstracts

Objective: To evaluate the impact of gestational age and birthweight on dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA and DHEA-S) in children born very preterm (VPT) appropriate for gestational age (GA) compared to children born at term (T).Methods: We recorded anthropometric parameters in 72 VPT (<32 GA) and 41 T (≥ 38 GA) aged 5.0–8.5 years. Birthweight standard deviation scores (BW-SDS) were calculated using INTERGROWT...

Background: Body weight has a close correlation with bone mass in humans and high fracture rates has been reported in both obese and underweighted individuals. It is not clear the role of bone marrow adiposity (BMA) and the IGF system in this process.Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze bone composition and BMA in obese and non-obese children/adolescents and correlate them with the expression of the IGF type-1 receptor (IGF1R) in peripheral lymphocy...

Background: Hypothalamic obesity (HyOb) is a disease characterized by weight gain resistant to lifestyle changes and dietary restriction. The main clinical findings are hyperfagia and decline of satiety, high levels of insulin and an increase of adipogenesis. The major problem for these patients is that conventional treatments, either medical or surgical are not succesful and have variable results.Objective and hypotheses: We aim to describe the natural ...

Background: Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is frequent in adrenocortical tumors (ACTs). This pathway and DAX1, a negative regulator of SF1 expression, control adrenal stem/progenitor cells, which can be involved in ACTs formation.Objective: To analyse the association between the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the expression of a stem cell marker (NANOG), STAT3, DAX1 and SF1 in ACTs.Methods: Patients:...

Background: Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is shed from the cell surface into the circulation as a specific marker of macrophage activation. Macrophages are involved in low-grade inflammatory states such as obesity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the relationships between circulating sCD163 and metabolic parameters in asymptomatic prepubertal children.Method: A population of 236 school-aged Caucasian children (111 girls and 125 bo...

Background: Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development (OTDSD – true hermaphroditism) is rare, characterized by the presence of both presence of both testis and ovay tissue. Usually, these patients seek medical attention due to ambiguous genitalia.Case presentation: A 15-year-old boy, with ‘atypical’ genitalia and breast enlargement came for surgical correction. His genitalia had a more masculine aspect at birth and he had been submitted to...

Background and Aim: IRS1 (Insulin Receptor Substrate 1) is involved in the insulin signalling pathway and abnormalities thereof have been related to metabolic disorders and obesity. In obese subjects, insulin resistance has been associated with changes in IRS1 expression in peripheral in blood. Sex-based differences in cardiovascular disease are well established. Previous results from our group disclosed the association between IRS1 placental methylation with ...

Introduction: The CCDC3 gene encodes for a protein expressed in endothelial cells and adipose tissue. Insulin increases its expression and, in turn, CCDC3 positively regulates adipogenesis and lipid accumulation. CCDC3 expression is increased in visceral adipose tissue from subjects with obesity. Gestational obesity can modify the metabolic programming in the offspring through epigenetic mechanisms. However, it is unknown whether the...

Background: Gordon Holmes syndrome (GHS) is characterized by cerebellar ataxia/atrophy and normosmic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (nHH). The underlying pathophysiology of this combined neurodegeneration and nHH remains unknown.Patients and methods: We studied a cohort of multiplex families with GHS through autozygosity mapping and whole exome sequencing.Results: We identified patients from three independent families carrying loss-...

Background: XLH is a rare, genetic, life-long disease caused by PHEX pathogenic variants. It is associated with progressive accumulation of musculoskeletal features and symptoms that evolve across the patient’s lifetime if untreated. Although the disease is well characterised in children and adults, there are limited data describing the health outcomes and experiences of adolescents, particularly at end of skeletal growth (EOSG), a crucial phase during t...