ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: The human fetal adrenals (HFA) produce high levels of steroids. The gland is distinguishable from the 7th gestational week and can be separated in two zones: the fetal zone in the center which correspond of 80 % of the gland and the definitive zone in the periphery. At this time of the development, neural crest cells are reaching the adrenal primordium, producing catecholamines. A third zone, the transitional zone appears later in the early 2nd t...

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases are recognized as a major cause of morbidity in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). There are 21 francophone countries (>100 million speak French) in Sub-Saharan Africa (FSSA). We identified only 19 pediatric endocrinologists in FSSA (37% in Cameroon and Senegal) mostly trained in France or through the successful anglophone “Paediatric Endocrine Training Centers for (West) Africa” (PETC[W]A) offered i...

Background: The male Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis is transiently active during the first months of life with surging serum concentrations of reproductive hormones. This period, termed minipuberty, promotes masculinization, including testicular, and penile growth, as well as further testicular descent in males. It appears to be essential for priming specific cell types, i.e. Sertoli-, Leydig-, and germ cells, including subsequent growth and maturat...

Parental imprinting is an epigenetic process leading to monoallelic expression of certain genes depending on their parental origin. Imprinting disorders are a set of rare diseases that mainly affect growth and metabolism from birth to adulthood. These disorders are mainly due to methylation defects in imprinting control region that drive the abnormal expression of imprinted genes. Moreover, patients with imprinting disorders may present overlapping clinical features that can b...

Introduction: Brain tumors are the most common solid neoplasm in children, and treatment often includes high-dose irradiation of the central nervous system (CNS). Although not universal, growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a very common endocrine late effect after CNS irradiation in childhood. The consequences of GHD in adults are many e.g., reduced bone mineral density, fatigue, decreased lean body mass and adiposity, which implies that adults with severe GHD ...

Background: Since its introduction in 1978, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been widely used to treat infertility. Worldwide, over 8 million children have been conceived by ART. Literature suggests that ART-adolescents potentially display altered vascular function. However, data concerning the cardiometabolic impact on the vascular function in ART-adolescents is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of blood lipids and HbA1c-levels...

Background: Severe primary insulin-growth factor-1 (IGF1) deficiency (SPIGF1D) is a rare cause of short stature. Diagnosis is based on low basal IGF1 concentration, short stature, normal or elevated growth hormone concentrations and absence of any secondary causes of growth failure. Thanks to advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, genetic etiology of SPIGF1D is expanding.Objectives: • Identify th...

Background: Copeptin is a surrogate marker for arginine vasopressin (AVP) release in response to hyperosmolal stimuli such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). We aimed to characterize the temporal course (kinetics) of serum osmolality and copeptin during rehydration and insulin therapy in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and DKA, and the relationship between both (dynamics).Methods: An observational multi-center study was...

Background: The initiation of puberty is dependent upon an augmentation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion from the hypothalamus. Development of the GnRH neuroendocrine network in embryonic life depends on coordinated migration of neurons from the vomeronasal organ in the nose to the forebrain. We have previously demonstrated that dysregulation in GnRH neuronal migration leads to delayed pubertal onset. Late puberty affects up to 2% of the ...

Background: Loss of imprinting has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases. Monogenic causes of central precocious puberty (CPP) were identified in families with loss-of-function mutations in two paternally expressed imprinted genes: Makorin zinc finger 3 (MKRN3) and Delta-like 1 homolog (DLK1). The role of imprinting defects in CPP has not been described so far.Objective: To inves...