ESPE Abstracts

Despite significant advances in the medical management of childhood diseases, glucocorticoids (GCs) continue to be the mainstay of therapy for numerous serious conditions, including hematological malignancies, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and inflammatory disorders. In order to understand the natural history of bone development in GC-treated children, a pan-Canadian longitudinal observational research study called "STOPP" (STeroid...

Catch-up growth (CUG) is characterized by a period of supranormal height velocity following a transient period of growth inhibition. The two classical hypotheses on the mechanism are the neuro-endocrine hypothesis (a central mechanism that would recognize the degree of mismatch between actual size and target size) and the growth plate hypothesis (local regulation of growth according to a preset cellular program of senescence, characterized by decreasing growth proliferation ra...

Study of the histopathology of human type 1 and 2 diabetes through the national pancreatic organ donor (nPOD) consortium has yielded interesting new insights that should also aid us in developing improved therapeutic approaches.1. When insulitis is observed, it usually shows a predominance of CD8 T cells, some of which are autoantigen specific (see also Coppieters et al. JEM 2012). It will be therapeutically challenging to remove/prevent CD8 mem...

The transient activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis shortly after birth has been described as early as in the 70ies. This discovery has since been applied clinically as a ‘window of opportunity’ for diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected of endocrine disorders and differences of sex development. With the advent of increasingly more sensitive and specific analytical methods for peptide and steroid hormones produced in the pituitary, gonads...

Background: A greater number of male (M) vs female (F) patients are diagnosed with GH deficiency (GHD). M have larger birth weight (BW), length and head circumference (HC) compared to F; these characteristics could contribute to subtle cephalo-pelvic disproportion and mild head trauma possibly contributing to idiopathic GHD (IGHD) and multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies (MPHD).Objective: To determine birth characteristics including mode of delivery a...

Background: Cis-gender females are known to mount stronger immune responses to invading pathogens or vaccines than cis-gender males. However, this is also associated with increased risk of autoimmunity. Little is known about the immunophenotypes of transgender individuals on gender-affirming hormonal treatment, despite growing evidence that hormones influence the immune system. Via the process of class-switch recombination (CSR), B-cell immunoglobulin isotype ...

Background: We are not aware of other longitudinal cohort studies of boys with prepubertal assessment of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and annual long term follow-up of growth and puberty to evaluate semen quality.Objective: To describe semen quality and explore associations of prepubertal serum concentrations of organochlorine compounds and pubertal measures with semen parameters in an ongoing longitudinal cohort study of Russian boy...

Background: Adrenocortical Carcinoma (ACC) represents 0.16% of all pediatric neoplasm in children, 0-14.9 years, diagnosed between 1984-2010 according to Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry. ACC is most frequent in girls below 4 years of age.Case: A physically active 14 years old girl was referred due to growth velocity 0 cm over the last year. Her history revealed substantial weight gain (photos), pubertal arrest prem...

Introduction: Aromatase deficiency is a rare cause of autosomal recessive 46, XX disorders of sex development (DSD) due to CYP19A1 gene mutations. The affected patients cannot have a normal estrogen biosynthesis. It is characterized by low serum estrogen, increased gonadotropins, and ovarian cysts. Herein, we report a new case with aromatase deficiency.Case Report: A 1-month-old girl was referred due to cliterom...

Background: Pubertal gynaecomastia (PG) is considered a clinical sign of an oestrogen–androgen imbalance at the breast tissue level although little evidence exists. PG occurs in 40–60% of adolescent Caucasian boys, and in most cases however, no underlying endocrinopathy can be identified. Very few longitudinal studies on PG exist.Objective and method: As a part of the longitudinal COPENHAGEN Puberty Study we followed 110 healthy Danish boys (ag...