ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic condition associated with feeding difficulties, hypotonia, developmental delay in infancy; hyperphagia leading to extreme obesity, growth failure and behavioral problems in childhood. Coeliac disease (CD), is an autoimmune disease characterized by gluten intolerance and a variety of symptoms most commonly diarrhea or constipation and failure to thrive. In PWS the challenge is to optimize growth while avoiding obesi...

Background: GH treatment is effective in improving adult height (AH) in short children born Small for Gestational Age. If SGA children are short at the start of puberty, they could benefit from combined GH/GnRH Analogue (GnRHa) treatment.Objective and hypotheses: To determine the timing and progression of pubertal development in short SGA children, comparing GH treatment with combined GH/GnRHa treatment.Method: For the present stud...

Background: In 2007, the Turner syndrome (TS) Consensus Study Group developed an international guideline for clinical care of girls and women with TS. Given emerging concerns of long term cardiovascular complications, the consensus recommends that cardiac MRI should be performed when girls are old enough to tolerate the procedure or at the time of transition and to be repeated at least every 5–10 years.Method: We conducted a survey of cardiovascular...

Background: In bilateral anorchia or vanishing testes syndrome, testicular function is normal during the embryonic period, as shown by the absence of Müllerian remnants and of hypospadias. Although normally differentiated, the penis may be small due to decreased testosterone secretion during the fetal period. In a normally virilised boy with non-palpable testes, with or without micropenis, the diagnosis is established by undetectable plasma anti-Müllerian hormone (AM...

Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a life-threatening disease and manifests in the majority of cases in the first days after birth. Based on the distribution of affected cells, focal CHI forms are distinguished from diffuse CHI forms. Focal forms occur in most cases due to a paternally inherited heterozygous mutation in a subunit of an ATP sensitive potassium channel (ABCC8, KCNJ11). Within the diagnostic setting, focal forms can be visualized by 18F DOPA PET scan, as a marke...

Background: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) plays a key role in reproduction. The G-protein coupled FSH receptor (FSHR), is expressed primarily in gonads, and specifically binds FSH. FSHR is also expressed in vascular endothelium, osteoclasts, adipose tissue, monocytes and rodent pancreatic islets. Elevated FSH levels are associated with development of obesity, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease. In a recent study, we showed that h...

Background: Low birth-weight and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. Many studies reported hyperandrogenaemia and precocious adrenarche in children born small for gestational age (SGA). However, little information is available on steroid profiles in these subjects.Objective and Hypotheses: We followed genetically identical twins with intra-twin birth-weigh...

Responsiveness to recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment in Turner syndrome (TS) is highly variable. Previous research has characterised genetic variants associated with rhGH response but these only have a minor impact. The relationship of these genetic variants to the blood transcriptome is unknown. The aim of this analysis was to relate unsupervised baseline blood transcriptome and genetic data from TS patients to their phenotype, karyotype and responsiveness to r...

Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED) is a chondrodysplasia characterised by delayed epiphyseal endochondral ossification, resulting in disproportionate short stature and early onset osteoarthritis. MED can be caused by heterozygous mutations in COMP, MATN3, COL9A1, COL9A2 and COL9A3, or bi-allelic mutations in SLC26A2. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are reprogrammed somatic cells which can differentiate to form all body tissues and have excellent potential for ti...

Background: Mirror movements (MM) are frequently associated to Kallmann syndrome (KS). They are mainly observed in patients with ANOS1 (KAL1) mutations. MM have never been reported in ANOS1 mutated females. A defect in the contralateral inhibition of the pyramidal tract has been proposed as the mechanism of MM in KS but never demonstrated.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the molecular mechanism of a familial case of gonadotropic deficiency in whi...