ESPE Abstracts

Background: Patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) require life-long glucocorticoid (GC) replacement and have high prevalence of metabolic disease. Our previous work using a zebrafish model of 21OHD (cyp21a2-/-) showed that cortisol-deficient adults were fertile and had normal external sex characteristics, however, they had large body size and increased subcutaneous and visceral fat deposition compared to wild-types. Unlike human 21OHD, they ...

Aim: The objective of the study was to determine bone mineralisation density in Turner syndrome (TS) from DSD life cohort, and to analyse the trabecular (lumbar spine = LS) and cortical bone (femoral neck = FN) mineralisation.Materials and Methods: This study was part of the DSD-LIFE study, a cross-sectional clinical outcome study of the BMD of TS adult patients from paediatric cohorts. BMD of the LS and FN were ...

Background: Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a frequent cause of congenital hypopituitarism. Patients are initially referred for the evaluation of hypoglycemia during the neonatal period or growth retardation during infancy or childhood. PSIS are either associated with extra-pituitary malformations (EPM+) or isolated (EPM−).Objective and hypotheses: To compare baseline characteristics, GH response, and long term evolution in patients...

Background: Wiedemann Steinert Syndrome (WSS) is characterized by distinctive facial features (hypertelorism, thick eyebrows, long philtrum, broad nasal bridge), growth retardation, and intellectual disability of varying degrees. Affected individuals are often born small for their gestational age and have generalized hypertrichosis. Some have growth hormone deficiency, usually partial with normal pituitary MRI. The disease is caused by autosomal dominant varia...

Background: Steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) is the most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Patients present with cortisol and aldosterone deficiency as well as with hyperandrogenism, leading to virilisation in females and early adrenarche in both sexes. Requiring life-long glucocorticoid (GC) replacement, patients frequently experience daily fluctuations between GC overexposure and deficiency. Increased prevalence of metabolic disease con...

The zebrafish is established as an important model system for studying development and disease, and characterisation of the developmental and functional roles of steroids is crucial for its effective employment in this remit. Whilst oestrogens are known to be essential for female development in zebrafish, the roles of androgens in the development, maintenance and function of the male reproductive system remain unclear.In order to investigate these proces...

Cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme, encoded by the CYP11A1 gene, catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step of steroid hormone biosynthesis. Previous morpholino knockdown studies described the divergent functions of the two cyp11a paralogs in zebrafish. Cyp11a1 has been suggested to be required for early development, whereas cyp11a2 is a functional equivalent of human CYP11A1 and is essential for the initiation and maintenan...

Background: Permanent adrenal insufficiency (AI) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening condition in children. Patients are at particular risk during times of stress. Thus, caregivers should have good illness management skills. Despite frequent teaching and seemingly good knowledge of illness management we still see a reluctance of caregivers to administer intramuscular (IM) hydrocortisone at home when indicated, preferring instead to drive themselves...

In the typical developing gonad, cells with XY chromosomes become masculinised into Sertoli cells, leading to the development of the bipotential gonad into testes. Disruptions to sex determining genes and transcription factors, or XX chromosome complement, typically leads to failure of Sertoli cell development. In the study of sex determination, upregulation of specific genes in animal models has sucessfully led to male factor expression in XX cells in some animals but not in ...

Increasing evidence suggests that the aetiology of disorders of sex development cannot be solely explained by genetic alterations. It is highly likely that environmental factors hitting susceptible genetic backgrounds are partly causative. Zebrafish sex is highly plastic during development, making this species an ideal model for investigation of endocrine disruption and gonadal development and function. However, the hormonal regulation of these processes in zebrafish is poorly...