ESPE Abstracts

Background: Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents a major health problem of our century, and accounts for a significant increase in morbidity and mortality in adulthood.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the effectiveness of a comprehensive and personalized plan of action in the prevention and management of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence.Method: 470 children and adolescents (mean age±SEM: 9...

Aim and background: Growth hormone (GH) treatment of short children born SGA and its effects on growth varies greatly between treated individuals. In the present study we tested the performance of a preexisting growth prediction model (Ranke et al.; JCE&M 2003 pp. 125–131) to estimate 1st-year height velocity (HV) in a german subcohort of prepubertal children born SGA treated with GH (Omnitrope).Methods: 190 treatment-naïve prepu...

Background: The melanocortin-4-receptor gene (MC4R) is a key regulator for appetite and satiety. MC4R mutations account for 6–8% of severe obesity in children with variable expression and penetrance.Case presentation: A 3-year-old girl is presented with severe early onset and progressive obesity. She was born full-term with appropriate of gestational age weight by non-consanguineous parents. She had normal psychomotor milestones an...

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...

Background: Turner syndrome is the most common sex chromosome disorder in females and occurs in about 1/2500 newborn girls worldwide. On chromosomal analysis, the various karyotypes observed are: 45,X (50%); 45,X/46,XX (20%); 46,X, i(Xq) (15%); 46,X, r(X) or 46,X, del(X) (10%); and others (5%).Objective and hypotheses: We present the case of a 17-year-old girl referred to our service for primary amenorrhea. Clinical examination: height=163 cm (62nd perce...

Background: There are many aspects of the child thyrotoxicosis similar as in adult but there are also particular characteristics. Thyrotoxicosis is rare in childhood and in majority is about Grave’s Disease.Study Group: 61 patients with ages between 9 and 19 years that were admitted for hyperthyroidism in our department for 19 years. The diagnosis was sustained by clinical signs, hormonal profile, and ultrasound and scintigraphy exam.<p class="a...

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) is essential for the development of primary and secondary male characteristics and is activated by its ligand dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Reduced AR activity can cause undervirilization and infertility. We recently developed an assay to test AR function as a ligand-dependent transcriptional activator in human genital skin fibroblasts (GF). So far it is unclear, if AR expression levels correlate with AR function in the male external genital...

Treatment with Recombinant Human GH (rhGH) has been of significant value in promoting quality of life in children with GH deficiency. However, it has been associated with several side-effects in the literature, including hypothyroidism, usually transient during the replacement therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the side effects of hGH replacement therapy, among children who were followed up at the Pediatric Endocrinology Outpatients Unit of our hospital during the ...

Background: In an effort to better understand the molecular basis of obesity, studies focus on genetic loci mapping to the leptin–melanocortin pathway, one of the key mechanisms for controlling food intake and body weight. Adenylate cyclase 3 (ADCY3) is a key genetic candidate as it seems to have an essential role at primary neuronal cilia in regulating body weight. We have previously reported the novel probably pathogenic ADCY3</em...

Background: Blood glucose control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TD1) is the most important goal in order to reduce potential complications. Following up these patients frequently and recording the relative metabolic parameters on a regular basis is necessary.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to compare the level of metabolic control in the children and adolescents with TD1 that are followed up in our Pediatric Diabete...