ESPE Abstracts

Background: Childhood obesity is commonly associated with signs of endothelial dysfunction, characterized by impairment of insulin signaling and vascular NO availability. Recently both these features have been associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, however the role of ER stress in the mechanism/s leading to vascular dysfunction in childhood obesity remains still to be established.Objective and Hypotheses: To evaluate ER stress and insulin-sti...

Background: Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) is an important regulatory factor for the development and function of T regulatory cells (Tregs). Moreover it has been established that deficiency of the Foxp3 gene in Treg cells suppresses their regulatory function leading to the development of autoimmune diseases especially autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs).Objective and hypotheses: The aim of our study was to estimate the association of three polymorphism of FOXP3...

Background: During the 1st months of postnatal life serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in girls are lower than in boys. The mechanism of this sex difference is not known. It has been proposed that foetal or perinatal androgenic steroids have an effect on the control of LH secretion.Objective and hypotheses: To study the possible influence of high levels of androgens on serum gonadotropins during the 1st months of life in a cohort of nine 46,XX testicu...

Background: According to the World Health Organization, the social determinants of health, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live and work – significantly influences on health. The CAF Foundation, the Endocrinology Scientific Center and the Institute for Family Health under the Alfa-Endo Program studied prevalence of some social determinants in families of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.Objective and hypotheses: Investigate soci...

Background: Congenital growth hormone deficiency may be isolated (IGHD) or multiple pituitary hormone deficiency (MPHD). The Sonic Hedgehog signalling (SHH) pathway has an important role in the pituitary development and growth, acting early in ventral forebrain. The SHH signalling mediates its effects through three zinc fingers proteins (Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3), which lead to activation or repression of target genes. Several heterozygous GLI2 mutations have been reported in patie...

Background: Heat generation in UCP-1 active cells as present in brown adipose tissue contributes to the regulation of energy homeostasis. Brown adipose tissue is known to be present in neonates and infants and has recently also been demonstrated in children and adults. Interestingly, a transition of white adipocytes into a brown phenotype has been documented in vitro in mouse and human cells, yet the underlying mechanisms are still not resolved. Using transcriptome an...

Objective: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is a common condition in pediatric endocrinology practice. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) treatment is safe, but the real effect on final height and the ideal timing for treatment remains controversial. The purpose of the authors was to evaluate a nationwide representative group of CPP Portuguese girls treated with GnRHa, assess the effectiveness of treatment and the growth outcome before and after 8...

Background and Aims: Thyroid hormones profoundly affect energy metabolism but their interrelation with food preference, which might contribute to childhood obesity development, are much less understood. Here we investigated if age-related changes of thyroid hormone levels are paralleled by specific modulation of food preference and potentially linked to the level of obesity in children and adolescents.Patients and Methods:</stron...

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a rare heterogeneous syndrome associated with severe prenatal and postnatal growth retardation.Context: There is little information on puberty onset and bone age trend in children with SRS.Study Design and partecipants: Retrospective observational study, including patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SRS divided in 2 molecular groups [ 11p15 loss of methylation, (...

Background: Since COVID-19 the number of girls referred to pediatric endocrinologist for suspected precocious puberty (PP) and early puberty (EP) has increased. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence, the anthropometric, biochemical and radiological characteristics of PP during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to previous years.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 464 females (F) referred t...