ESPE Abstracts

Disorders of sex development (DSD) are those congenital conditions in which development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical. The aim of this study was to characterize the histology of 46,XX DSD prepubertal gonads. We studied 25 gonads of fourteen 46,XX DSD patients. The age of biopsy/gonadectomy was 1.17 (0.08–4.17) years (median and range). Molecular studies confirmed the absence of SRY by PCR and/or MLPA in blood samples of all patients and i...

Background: Carriers of germline DICER1 mutations are predisposed to a rare cancer syndrome, the DICER1 syndrome, associated with tumors such as pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (SLCT), multinodular goiter (MNG), cystic nephroma (CN), embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) or primitive neuroectodermic tumor. DICER1 is involved in the generation of microRNAs (miRNAs), short, double-stranded, non-coding RNAs that modulate gene expression at ...

Background: Obesity during childhood has been demonstrated to exert profound and lasting effects on bone strength and fracture risk. Furthermore, obesity is characterized by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, with an increase in the mediators of innate immunity. It has been found that skeletal homeostasis is influenced by immune cells. LIGHT (lymphotoxin-like inducible protein that competes with glycoprotein D for herpesvirus entry on T cells) is emerging among cytokin...

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and bone alterations, probably due to lack of insulin and chronic hyperglycemia. Sclerostin and Dickkopfs-1 (DKK-1) are Wnt signaling inhibitors involved in bone remodelling.Objective and hypotheses: To assess serum levels of DKK-1 and sclerostin in T1DM children and adolescents on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) or multiple daily therapy (MDI). We hypoth...

The accumulation of adipose tissue, especially visceral fat, represents a risk factor for reduced bone mineral density and spontaneous fractures. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the complex relationship between adipose tissue and bone. Obesity is associated with the production of inflammatory cytokines both by adipocytes and immune cells which may stimulate bone resorption and reduce bone strength. Studies in vitro and in vivo have reported t...

Background: Neuroendocrine tumors from adrenal and extra-adrenal chromaffin cells are characterized by overproduction of catecholamines (CA), leading to the increase of urinary O-methylated metabolites (uO-Met) excretion, reliable biomarkers for the initial screening, diagnosis and monitoring of patients with pheochromocytoma and paragangliomas (PPGLs).Objective: To develop and validate a UHPLC-MS/MS method for the simul...

In a retrospective study (1), we found that a GH<6.5 μg/L, IGF-I-WHO87/518 <30 μg/L and IGFBP-3<0.8 μg/mL confirmed GHD diagnosis with high diagnostic accuracy in neonates with clinical suspicion of GHD. GH and insulin negatively regulate IGFBP-2, and it was proposed to reflect GH status in the diagnostic work-out of GHD in childhood and adults. The accuracy of IGFBP-2 has not been set for neonates.Objective: To prospectively v...

Background: TSH cut-off (CO) levels has been lowered progressively in many screening programs. Nevertheless, population detected with lower CO levels differs in severity and etiology.Objective and hypotheses: To describe the etiological characteristics and severity of children detected by neonatal screening related to CO TSH levels.Method: We analysed the data of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) neonatal screening performed between J...

Central precocious puberty (CPP) is effectively treated by inhibition of GnRH signaling through GnRH receptor desensitization with depot GnRH agonists (dGnRHa), but the first injection is associated with a surge in LH and FSH (flare) that proportionally increases estradiol levels. When estradiol levels drop, usually within a fortnight, vaginal bleeding may be seen in a small number of girls. Although dGnRHa that use higher, longer-acting doses are increasingly being used in gi...

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is uncommon before the age of 4 and treatment with GnRH analogues have shown unequivocal benefits. CPP during or near mini puberty entails differential clinical and biochemical features in the diagnosis and leads to longer treatment and follow-up. There are very limited studies with long-term outcomes about CPP girls exclusively < 4 years of age regarding growth, menarche, and adult height after GnRHa withdrawal....