ESPE Abstracts

Background: An increasing need for non-invasive, out-patient based investigations has necessitated a re-evaluation of urinary gonadotrophins (uGn) for assessing puberty.Objective: Prospective evaluation of the relationship between first morning uGn measured by immunoassay and corrected for creatinine (uLH:uCr; uFSH:uCr), and basal serum gonadotropins (sLH, sFSH) and in response to LHRH stimulation test. Prospective evaluation of uGn trend in patients rec...

Background: Primary hypoaldosteronism (PA) is a rare inborn disorder with life-threatening symptoms in newborns and infants due to an aldosterone synthase defect. As plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) can remain in the normal range, interpretation of the laboratory findings could be difficult and might lead to delayed initiation of therapy.Objective and Hypotheses: This study aims to show that PAC/PRC (plasma renin concentration) rat...

Introduction: Mutations in the GH1 promoter are a rare cause of isolated GH deficiency (IGHD). In order to find the molecular cause of short stature due to IGHD, three siblings (2 M) born to consanguineous parents without mutations in the GHRHR and GH1 coding regions were screened for mutations in the GH1 promoter and locus control region. All patients harbored two variants (c.−123T>C and −161C>T) in homozygous state in the GH1 promoter, not found in 100 co...

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) encompasses a group of autosomal recessive disorders which lead to impairment of steroid biosynthesis in the adrenals and gonads. 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) is the most common form of CAH (95%), followed by 11β-hydroxylase deficiency (11OHD) and 3β-dehydrogenase steroid dehydrogenase type 2 deficiency (3bHSD2). LC–MSMS based steroid analysis has become an increasingly important method for steroid analyses i...

Introduction: A fundamental element in the successful diabetes management is the education of patients. Modern technology opens new horizons and provides new tools in empowering patients in their learning process.Objectives: Presentation, evaluation and critical medical review of ‘My Diabetes’ application whose Spanish version has been studied, reviewed and analysed in detail by our endocrinology unit and D-parents. Provide insight into its pot...

Background: The diagnosis of GH deficiency in children is based on clinical, auxological, radiographic and biochemical criteria which include response to Pharmacological Estimulation Tests (PhT). It is well known that GH concentrations vary according to the assay method used. Currently in our population, the proposed cut-off value of serum GH PhT is 4.7 ng/ml measured by ICMA using the IRP 98/574.Objective and hypotheses: The aims of this study were to d...

Background: Early-onset severe obesity due to leptin deficiency typically results from a defect of leptin production or secretion due to mutations in the leptin gene. Recently we described a new form of leptin deficiency caused by bioinactivity of the hormone and associated with high circulating leptin levels (New England Journal of Medicine 2015 372 48–54).Method: Serum leptin was measured by ELISA. The leptin gene was seq...

Background: IGF1 and IGF2 are major regulators of somatic growth acting mainly through the IGF1R. Variants in IGF1 and in IGF1R were identified to cause intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation but variants in IGF2 have not yet been reported.Method: In a multigenerational family four affected members (two siblings, one first degree cousin and the daughter of one sibling) exhibited severe growth retardation with heights between −4.2 and −...

Background: Previous studies evaluating bone quality and microarchitecture in X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH) have produced conflicting data.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) and microarchitecture in 36 XLH patients (13 children and 23 adults) with confirmed PHEX mutations compared to healthy controls.Method: The areal BMD (aBMD) at lumbar spine (L1-L4), femoral neck, total hip an...

Background: The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is dramatically increasing among children worldwide. The gold standard for diagnosis is the liver biopsy. Reliable serum markers are lacking. Recently, circulating miRNAs have been studied as biomarkers of disease progression. Specifically, miR-122 was proposed as predictive marker for liver disease in adults, while no data are available for children.Objective and hypotheses: To inves...