ESPE Abstracts

Background: Craniosynostosis, defined as the premature fusion of the cranial sutures, presents many challenges in aetiology. One known form associated to steroid biosynthesis impairment is the Antley-Bixler Syndrome (ABS). ABS-phenotype and normal steroidogenesis have FGFR mutations, whereas those with ambiguous genitalia and altered steroidogenes should be recognized as possibly having P450 oxidoreductase deficiency, with mild do moderate 17 OH progesterone (17HOP) elevation ...

Introduction: Early-onset severe obesity (before five years of age) without intellectual deficit, dysmorphisms, or malformations raises the hypothesis of monogenic obesity. The leptin receptor (Lepr) pathway is essential for food intake regulation, energy expenditure, and body weight. Mutations in leptin and the Lepr have been shown to cause early-onset severe obesity in mice and humans.Objective: To report the clinical ...

Context: Transient thelarche (TT) corresponds to the appearance, regression and subsequent reappearance of the breast bud in girls. Only a single study about its frequency and progression is available (Lindhardt Johansen JCEM 2017).Objective and Hypotheses: To determine whether girls with TT girls (group 1) compared to girls without TT (group 2) show differences in i) timing/sequence of pubertal events ii) pattern of rep...

Introduction: Childhood prolactinomas often occur as aggressive macro (1–4 cm) or giant (>4 cm) tumours, with little consensus regarding timing of optimal therapies.Aim: To highlight the phenotype and treatment outcome of childhood macroprolactinomas.Subjects and methods: Case-note review of 10 (five male) children (<18 years) (presenting to our centre between 2009 and 2017 with hyperprolactinaemia due to macro/giant-p...

Background: Nonsurgical development of nasal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks may occur in the setting of pituitary adenomas, especially following a favorable response of invasive prolactinomas to initiation of Dopamine Agonist (DA) therapy, but this has not previously described in children.Case description: A girl of Srilankan origin, aged 13.8 years, whose parents spoke no English, presented with headaches and secondary amenorrhea. Pituitary MRI reveale...

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to genes encoding the FSHβ subunit and FSH receptor (FSHB/FSHR) affect FSH production (FSHB c.-211G>T) and receptor sensitivity/expression in vitro (FSHR c.2039A>G & FSHR c.-29G>A). FSHR c.2039A>G, but not FSHR c.-29G>A, is associated with increased FSH levels in adult women, while there are conflicting results on F...

Background: Studies have shown that genetic variations in the FSH pathway (SNPs: FSHB −211G>T, FSHR −29G>A, and FSHR 2039A>G) affect peripubertal levels of serum FSH and age at pubertal onset in girls.Objective and hypotheses: Genetic variations in the FSH pathway reflect circulating levels of female reproductive hormones during the postnatal gonadotropin surge.Method: Blood samples were taken in girls of th...

Background: The anogenital distance (AGD) is a well-known measure in rodents used to distinguish male and female pubs. Likewise, AGD display sex-specific differences in humans. It is considered a postnatal readout of early androgen exposure in fetal life. Thus, in postnatal life AGD is longer in boys than in girls, reduced in infants born with cryptorchidism and hypospadias as well as in boys exposed to anti-androgenic agents in fetal life. However, little is ...

Background: Sexual maturation is closely linked to growth, suggesting common pathways between the reproductive development and the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH/IGF-I) axis. IGF-I bioavailability is regulated by Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) and Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2). A large genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified PAPP-A, PAPP-A2 and STC2 to represent loci strongly a...

Background: Age at onset of puberty exhibits a remarkable variation mirroring nutritional, environmental, socioeconomic and genetic factors. While large genome-wide association studies identified more than hundred genetic loci associated with age at menarche in girls, knowledge on loci associated with age at pubertal onset in boys is sparse. FSHB/FSHR genetic variants have been shown to affect pubertal timing in girls and reproductive parameters in men.<p class="a...