ESPE Abstracts

Background: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by a switch in early childhood from failure to thrive to excessive weight gain and hyperphagia with impaired satiety. The underlying mechanism for this switch may involve hyperghrelinemia, but only poor data exists regarding levels of acylated ghrelin (AG), unacylated ghrelin (UAG), and the AG/UAG ratio in PWS.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate plasma levels of AG and UAG in PWS, compare...

Preliminary results:Objective: Although low birthweight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions have been associated with metabolic sequelae in later life, little is known about their impact on steroid metabolism. We studied genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth to adolescence to analyse the long-term impact of bw on steroid metabolism.Methods:...

Background: The most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia is 21-hydroxylase deficiency (CAH). In women with classic CAH, the fertility rate is lower than in the general female population, and an increased rate of miscarriages has been reported. There are no data on the incidence rate of miscarriages in families with an offspring that have classic CAH.Methods: The families came from different parts of Germany and attended the annual meeting of th...

Background: Low birth weight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. However, very little is known about the impact on thyroid function.Objective and hypotheses: In a longitudinal study we observed genetically identical twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth until adolescence to objectify the impact of a lower bw on development and health in later life....

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease seen in children. The systemic features of JIA are mediated by cytokine products of an activated immune system. Recent studies showed that the median level of urine cortisol in active JIA patients is significantly lower than remission period and control groups.Objective and hypotheses: One of the najor drugs in JIA is TNFα blocker (Enbrel). The aim of the study was ...

Background: Various endocrine complications are common after HSCT but primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison’s disease, AD) is absolutely rare. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one case of AD reported in a 9-year-old girl after HSCT and busulfan and cyclophosaphamide-based conditioning for myelodysplastic syndrome.Objective: We report on a 14-year-old boy from Albania who developed an Addisonian crisis 12.7 years after HSCT.<p class="...

Background: Current guidelines recommend the priming with low-dose testosterone in prepubertal boys prior to growth hormone stimulation tests. To our knowledge, only few adverse events after low-dose testosterone have been described so far.Objective and hypotheses: To assess possible side effects of testosterone priming.Patients: We studied 188 prepubertal boys aged between 10 and 15 years (mean ± S.D.: 11.4&#17...

Background: Reports on obesity, high blood pressure and reduced insulin sensitivity in children with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) indicate an increased cardiovascular risk.Objective and Hypotheses: To evaluate potential mechanisms, we analysed various parameters of the carbohydrate metabolism in children and adolescents with CAH.Method: Out of 86 patients with classical CAH, n=41 (21 m, 20 f; ages: 6.9&#1...

Background: Low birth weight, unfavourable intrauterine conditions, and post-natal catch-up growth are associated with a subsequent impact on growth, pubertal development, and metabolic disturbances later in life. Although the start of puberty is genetically determined it might be altered due to environmental influences.Objectives: In a longitudinal study (birth to final height) we observed growth and pubertal development of genetically identical twins b...

Background: It has been reported that children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) have higher BMI, increased body fat and greater waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) than control children.Objective and hypotheses: Recently it was speculated that the screening potential of waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and waist circumference (WC) for cardio-metabolic risk in adults is higher than WHR and BMI.Method: To review this hypothesis, we studied...