ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: The metabolically healthy obese phenotype (MHOF) defines obese patients who have preserved insulin sensitivity and who do not have metabolic complications: lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Recent studies indicate that TMI (kg/m3) estimates the percentage of body fat more accurately than the BMI and it has been proposed to substitute the use of the BMI z-score values by those of the TMI. TMI values ...

Pubertal delay in females is defined as the lack of development of Tanner breast stage 2 by 13 years of age. Recent cohort studies have recapitulated the findings of classic studies over the last few decades, that constitutional delay (also known as self-limited delayed puberty) is less common in girls than in boys. This diagnosis is found in 30% of girls presenting with delayed puberty, with a further 30% classified as functional hypogonadotropic hypogonadism due to chronic i...

Young people presenting with delay in pubertal onset or progression may have one of a spectrum of conditions, with different underlying pathological mechanisms. Whilst environmental factors such as nutrition and emotional well-being can influence the timing of puberty, in the majority of patients presenting with significantly delayed puberty there is a clear family history of delayed or arrested puberty. Pubertal timing is known to be a trait with strong heritability, demonstr...

Background: Septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) is a highly heterogeneous condition with a variable phenotype, defined as two or more features of the classical triad: i) optic nerve hypoplasia, ii) midline brain defects, and iii) pituitary hormone abnormalities.Objective and hypotheses: To describe the clinical, endocrine, and neuroimaging features in eight children with SOD.Method: Eight (six males) consecutive patients, diagnosed with SO...

Background: Pancreatic epithelial cells represent an attractive cell source for replacement therapy of type 1 diabetes. Previously, we designed a protocol for expansion of human pancreatic duct-derived cells (HDDCs) and showed their β-cell engineering potential.Objective and hypotheses: In this study, we reprogrammed HDDCs into β-cell-like lineage by over-expressing mRNAs of key pancreatic transcription factors (TFs).Meth...

Introduction: Delayed puberty (DP), affecting over 2% of adolescents, is defined as pubertal onset 2-2.5 SDs later than the general population. The most common underlying aetiology is self-limited DP (SLDP). However, this can be difficult to differentiate from the more severe condition congenital hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH), especially on first presentation of an adolescent patient with DP. This study sought to elucidate phenotypic and genotypic discre...

Introduction: The identification of obese patients with increased susceptibility and risk for glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes requires an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Reference values for Body mass index (BMI) and Tri-Ponderal mass index (TMI) according to age and sex of healthy children in Spain without malnutrition or obesity have recently been published (*). TMI values remain very uniform in both boys and girls from the age of 8 to 18 years, ...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) continues to be a diagnostic challenge in adolescent girls. Symptoms like oligomenorrhea and acne, and polycystic ovarian morphology on ultrasound can be normal variants in adolescents. In addition to diagnostic difficulties, there is lack of randomized controlled trials for PCOS treatments specific to adolescents. Current guidelines for diagnosis and management of PCOS in adolescents have large variations and rely ...

Background: Early recognition and treatment of cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD) significantly improves respiratory and nutritional status of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines recommend annual screening with oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for all affected children from age 10 years.Objective and hypothesis: We sought to determine if screening for CFRD was optimal and to determine if early treatme...

Background: Self-limited delayed puberty (DP) often segregates in an autosomal dominant pattern, suggesting that inheritance is conferred by a small number of genes. However, the underlying genetic background is mostly unknown. By comparison, many genes have been identified where loss-of-function mutations lead to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Despite likely overlap between the pathophysiology of delayed puberty and conditions of GnRH deficiency, few studies have examine...