ESPE Abstracts

Background: In adult women, serum levels of AMH reflect both the number of small growing follicles and remaining primordial follicles. AMH levels range 15 fold between healthy girls. Interpretation of AMH is contentious due to minor intra-individual changes around time of pubertal onset despite continuous loss of primordial follicles.Objective and Hypotheses: To describe ovarian morphology (volume, follicles) in healthy girls and adolescents in relation ...

Background: Non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH) may present during childhood, adolescence or even adulthood with various degrees of hyperandrogenism. Diagnosis is established through tetracosactide (Synacthen®) test and genotyping. Cortisol insufficiency has rarely been described in NCCAH.Objective and hypotheses: To describe cortisol response to tetracosactide test in NCCAH patients.Method: Retrosp...

Background: Exposure to non-persistent pesticides may have an effect on prenatal growth and later risk of adiposity. Prenatal pesticide exposure has been found to be associated with lower birth weight and higher body fat percentage calculated from skinfolds at age 6–11 years. Body composition measured by using DXA in children prenatally exposed to pesticides has not previously been reported.Objective and hypotheses: To study the effects of prenatal ...

Background: Obesity in childhood is defined by age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off values. However, BMI does not disclose the distribution of fat mass. Increased abdominal adipose tissue is associated with a higher risk of cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. Thus, precise measurements of abdominal adipose tissue in children may enable early prevention of disease.Objective and hypotheses: To validate measurements of abdominal adipose tissue by anthropome...

Objective: Recent experimental data suggest that circulating serotonin interacts with bone metabolism, although this is less clear in humans. This study investigated whether serum serotonin interferes with bone metabolism in young women with anorexia nervosa (AN), a clinical model of energy deprivation.Methods: Serum serotonin, markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin (OC), procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (PINP), type 1-C telopeptide breakdown prod...

Background: Despite the fact that pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a frequent finding in children with combined GH deficiency (CGHD), clinical data are still limited and the growth response to GH treatment has not been evaluated in comparison with CGDH with a normal stalk.Objective and hypotheses: To report the clinical and hormonal findings and evaluate the short term growth response to GH in Belgian children with congenital non-syndromat...

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) affects one in 3000 children at birth. In 65% of cases, CH is due to thyroid dysgenesis (CHDT). For CHDT, there is a family component and therefore genetic. Over the past 20 years, disease-causing mutations in 10 genes have been implicated in CHDT cases (NKX2-1/TTF1, FOXE1/TTF2, NKX2-5, PAX8, GLIS3, NTN1/Netrin-1, JAG1, BOREALIN/CDCA8, TUBB1</...

Background: Children with metabolic syndrome carry an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood. Patients with rare syndromic obesity, such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), experience early-onset, severe obesity, which may convey an increased risk for developing obesity-related comorbidities and metabolic syndrome later in life. In clinical trials, treatment with the melanocortin-4 receptor a...

Background/ Aim: Over the past 6 years, the IGF1/ IGFBP3 generation test (IGFGT) has been used in Belgium in a standardized form to identify children with severe primary IGF1 deficiency (SPIGFD). In this study, the discordance of the IGF1 and IGFBP3 responses during an IGFGT and the prevalence of SPIGFD were analyzed in a cohort of children with short stature (height SDS < - 2) and presenting with low (below lower reference limit) serum IGF1 level and norma...

Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA) is a chronic autoinflammatory disease, with significant complications that can give short-term and long-term disability with reduced quality of life. Growth delay and short stature are described in >40% of cases, with a complex pathogenesis. Chronic inflammation, long-term corticosteroids treatment, hepatic involvement, malnutrition decrease IGF-1 and GH biological effects. Corticosteroids inhibit growth velocity, bone maturatio...