ESPE Abstracts

Background and Objective: Obesity is known to affect pubertal timing. However, existing data are still controversial, observing either delayed or accelerated pubertal onset, especially among boys. Herein, we evaluated pubertal milestones and underlying hormonal changes between lean and obese children.Material and Methods: We examined 13,484 events from 4,855 lean (BMI SDS <1.28) and 1,983 obese (BMI SDS > 1.88) c...

Background/aim: The PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) is an overgrowth syndrome caused mainly by germline mutations in the tumor suppressor PTEN. Patients are predisposed for the development of malignant and benign tumors. Children and adolescents with PHTS frequently develop single or multiple lipomas. PTEN antagonizes the phosphatidylinositide3-kinase/AKT/mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) pathway, which promotes proliferation and differentiation in ...

Background/aim: Sorafenib® is a multi-kinase inhibitor and one of the few systemic treatment options for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Resistance to Sorafenib® develops frequently and could be mediated by the NAD dependent deacetylase sirtuin (SIRT) 1, a master regulator of cellular energy metabolism and stress responses. We aimed to find out if Sorafenib® treatment depends on changes in cellular NAD le...

Background: Cancer cells have a high NAD turnover rate due to their increased cell proliferation and DNA repair. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is the key enzyme of the NAD salvage pathway, a regulator of the intracellular NAD pool and of the activity of Sirtuins (SIRTs), a class of NAD-dependent deacetylases.Objective and hypotheses: Cancer cells are highly dependent on NAD and are expected to be more susceptible to an inhibition of NAD ...

Background: Animal and human studies have shown that nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the key enzyme of mammalian NAD biosynthesis from nicotinamide, is modified in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Here, we investigated the effect of a high fat diet on hepatic NAD metabolism in mice.Objective and hypotheses: A dysregulation of NAD metabolism is a pathogenic factor for the development of steatohepatitis (NASH).Metho...

Introduction: Leptin, an adipokine secreted mainly by adipose tissue, is a regulator of energy balance acting through central mechanisms on the hypothalamus. However, leptin has many functions regulating e.g., immune system and reproduction. Leptin exerts its biological effects through its receptor, the expression of which has been demonstrated in several tissues. There are several leptin receptor isoforms, but activation of only one of them, the long form, re...

Background: POMC plays a major role in central body weight regulation. Recently we have shown that a POMC hypermethylation variant is significantly associated with obesity in children and adolescents (Kuehnen et al. PLoS Genetics 2012).Objective and hypotheses: Here we report about our extended studies to elucidate the mechanism behind the occurrence of the POMC hypermethylation variant in obese individuals.<p clas...

Background: The course of type 2 diabetes is more severe among children with obesity than among adults. Therefore, children at high risk for glycemic deterioration should be detected early enough to guide preventive (and interventional) clinical management.Methods: We established age- and puberty-specific reference values for 7 different indexes addressing the insulin response during oral glucose tolerance testing upon 4...

Introduction: PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by germline mutations in the tumor suppressor gene Phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN), a negative regulator of the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/AKT/ mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Children with PHTS frequently develop adipose tissue overgrowth, so called lipomas that can lead to loss of organ function due to displacing lipoma growth. Currently, except...

Background and Aim: Pediatric patients with germline mutations in the phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten) gene frequently develop aberrant adipose tissue growth called lipomas. In severe cases, recurrent lipoma formation can have adverse effects on organ function and quality of life. Due to the lack of understanding the basis of lipoma development, no systemic treatment options are available. We therefore aimed to characterize an already described lipoma bea...