ESPE Abstracts

Background: Vitamin D is a steroid hormone which contributes to the maintenance of calcium homeostasis and bone mineralization. As bone mineral accretion occurs mostly during the third trimester of pregnancy, mineral storages are deficient especially in the extremely low birth weight (ELBW <1000g) preterm infants at birth. Recent studies suggest that ELBW is a risk factor for compromised bone mineral density at adulthood, but the role of neonatal morbidity ...

Introduction: Physical growth according to genetic potential is a hallmark of childhood health [1]. Childhood growth is complex and the physiological processes involved in promoting healthy growth are not fully understood, including the gut microbiota. The gut microbiota matures from birth towards adulthood, and this process might be affected by several factors, including mode of delivery, food intake and antibiotic treatment. The bacterial gut microbiota is observed to be mor...

Context: Clinical findings characterizing PWS are muscular hypotonia, abnormal body composition, developmental delay, behavioral problems, hyperphagia with obesity when food intake is not restricted and short stature. Endocrine problems are described, like hypogonadism, hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency and growth hormone (GH) deficiency. Hypothalamic dysfunction may be responsible for many features of PWS. Randomized controlled studies showed that GH t...

Purpose: Noonan syndrome (NS) is a genetic disorder characterized by specific features including short stature, cardiac defect, and distinctive facial dysmorphism. Human growth hormone (GH) has been used to improve growth in children with NS but there is little information how GH treatment affects height. The aim of this study is to investigate efficacy of GH treatment in Korean children with NS compared to sex and age-matched patients with growth hormone defi...

Aims: To examine growth, body composition and glucose metabolism during childhood in children born small for gestational age (SGA).Methods: Single centre cohort study of 150 children (63 boys), identified from newborn records as being born SGA (birth weight SDS <−1.5) and assessed between the age of 4 and 7 years. Data collected included: anthropometric parameters (height, weight, BMI: transformed into age- and sex-adjusted SDS), lean and fat m...

Background: In rodents, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), an endocrine member of the FGF family, is mainly produced in the liver and promotes glucose oxidation in several tissues; the circulating concentrations of FGF21 rise shortly after birth. In the human, the ontogeny of circulating FGF21 is essentially unknown.Objective and hypotheses: To assess whether there is also a neonatal surge of circulating FGF21 concen...

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare multisystemic genetic disorder. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy is the most established form of treatment for PWS. This study aimed to investigate the effect of rhGH treatment age on the treatment outcome of children with PWS.Methods: A retrospective analysis of 167 genetically confirmed Chinese children with PWS followed between 2017 and 2022. Unadjusted ...

Background: COVID-19 restriction measurements have enhanced the obesity status in the pediatric population which might further contribute to obesity related glucose-insulin metabolism alterations. Therefore, we retrospectively compared anthropometric and OGTT data on obese children during the 13 years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period.Subjects/Methods: Data from 741 obese/overweight children were retrieved a...

Background: We present a boy with classical adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and constantly increased 17-OH-progesterone (17-OH-P) values despite multiple dose adjustments of hydrocortisone up to 18 mg/m2 body surface and addition of fludrocortisone. After puberty, therapy was changed from hydrocortisone to prednisone without improvement of the 17-OH-P values. Non-compliance was suspected as cause of the inadequately controlled CAH. Alternatively, an atypical steroid metab...

Background: Early menarche may be associated with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and oligomenorrhoea in adults. While the state of metabolism and gonadal axis of early menarche girls and girls who treated with Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa) during puberty was not so clear.Objective and hypotheses: We assessed in a retrospective unicentre study the state of metabolism and gonadal axis of early menarche girls and gir...