ESPE Abstracts

Background: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) has an incidence of 3.2–22.2% in obese children. The etiology of increased prevalence of SH is still unclear in obese individuals.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the relation of SH with iodine deficiency, serum leptin levels and metabolic parameters in obese children and adolescents.Method: One hundred and fifty nine obese and 54 healthy children and adolescents were include...

Background: A high proliferative status of thyroid follicular cells and goiter were observed in mutants mice with Pten−/− or Dream overexpression. In humans, patients with Cowden disease have goiters or other thyroid abnormalities associated with germ-line PTEN mutations.Objective and Hypotheses: The aim of this study was to investigate the tissue expression of PTEN and DREAM, as well as germ-line ...

Background: Robot assisted therapy has the potential to provide emotional and educational support to young patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM).Objective: To investigate the attitudes of children and young people with T1DM and that of their parents towards the concept of utilising a humanoid robot as an assistant in the management of their diabetes.Methods: A humanoid robot programmed to help self-management of T1DM at home was int...

Background: With improvements in assays and an increasing need for non-invasive out-patient based investigations, there is a renewed interest in the use of urinary gonadotrophins (uGn) for assessing pubertal progress.Objective and hypotheses: This study aims to establish the correlation between serum and urinary LH and FSH in patients with pubertal concerns.Method: 36 boys and girls aged 14.9 years (range 7.8–17.3) and 9.5 yea...

Background: There are limited data in paediatric population on the association between vitamin D deficiency/treatment and glucose/insulin metabolism.Objective and hypotheses: This study aimed to investigate the effect of vitamin D therapy on glucose homeostasis, insulin resistance and bone turnover, in children with vitamin D deficiency.Method: 22 children aged 3 months to 10 years (nine male) who were diagnosed with vitamin D defi...

Background: GH deficiency (GHD) occurs in one in 4000–one in 10 000 children, but can also be diagnosed in adults.1 GHD therapy typically requires injections over a period of years.2 Adherence to long-term GHT presents a challenge.Objective and hypotheses: This study describes the rates of adherence to GHT among patients with GHD.Method: Members who were continuously enrolled 6 months pre- and 12 months p...

Background: Recent work revealed two pathways in androgen biosynthesis, namely the classic and an alternative, the backdoor pathway. In this alternative pathway dihydrotestosterone is produced from 17-hydroxyprogesterone without the intermediacy of testosterone using mostly enzymes that are specific to the backdoor path. In the human ovary, regulation of androgen production plays a crucial role in normal physiology and in pathologies such as the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS...

Background: Children with ISS have an array of causes that lead to short stature and/or poor growth velocity. Genetic causes of short stature, notably SHOX mutations, can be associated with subtle skeletal disproportion with shorter limbs, manifesting as increased sitting-to-standing height ratios or SDS.Objective and hypothesis: Children with ISS and skeletal disproportions have a diminished growth response to GH treatment compared to chi...

Background: Studies have shown that genetic variations in the FSH pathway (SNPs: FSHB −211G>T, FSHR −29G>A, and FSHR 2039A>G) affect peripubertal levels of serum FSH and age at pubertal onset in girls.Objective and hypotheses: Genetic variations in the FSH pathway reflect circulating levels of female reproductive hormones during the postnatal gonadotropin surge.Method: Blood samples were taken in girls of th...

Introduction: β-thalassemia is a hereditary chronic hemolytic anemia characterized by a defect in the synthesis of beta-globin chains, particularly common in the Mediterranean region, southern Asia, and the Middle East (1) Transfusion programs and chelating therapy have greatly extended the life expectancy of patients (2). This has led to an increase in the prevalence of endocrine complications, linked to iron overload (3) including abnormalities in gluco...