ESPE Abstracts

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...

Background: The androgen receptor (AR) is essential for the development of primary and secondary male characteristics and is activated by its ligand dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Reduced AR activity can cause undervirilization and infertility. We recently developed an assay to test AR function as a ligand-dependent transcriptional activator in human genital skin fibroblasts (GF). So far it is unclear, if AR expression levels correlate with AR function in the male external genital...

Introduction: The growth process in children depends on GH/IGF-1. Ghrelin is stimulator of GH synthesis. Ghrelin also stimulates the orexigenic center peptides responsible for appetite. It is synthesized in the stomach, thus its secretion may be alter by gastrointestinal tract deseases. Recently, high titers of antibodies against some neuropeptides (including anti-ghrelin) have been found in indyviduals with certain microflora components, e.g. Helicobacter pyl...

Background: Sclerostin is secreted by the osteocyte and inhibits bone formation by osteoblasts and is thus a negative regulator of bone formation. In adults, sclerostin levels increase after weight loss, which may be prevented by exercise training. The effect of weight loss on sclerostin in children is unknown.Objective and hypotheses: To compare sclerostin levels in children before and after a 10 weeks stay at a weight loss camp (WLC).<p class="abst...

Background: McCune Albright syndrome (MAS) is defined by the classic triad of precocious puberty, fibrous dysplasia of bone and café au lait skin pigmentation. However, the clinical spectrum is often more variable due to mosaic distribution of the postzygotic GNAS-mutation. Hypercortisolism occurs in a minority (5%) of patients. It is most frequently caused by nodular adrenal hyperplasia and can be life-threatening. Decisions on whether clinical management should be conse...

Turner syndrome (TS) affects 25-50 per 100,000 females and can involve multiple organs through all stages of life, necessitating a multidisciplinary approach to care. Numerous important advances have been noted during recent years. These advances cover all specialty fields involved in the care of girls and women with TS. This new international guideline is based on an international effort with emphasis on 1) diagnostic and genetic issues, 2) growth and development during child...

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and disabling disease affecting increasing numbers of adolescents. Conventional medical therapy presents unique challenges and seldom stalls progression.Objective and hypotheses: The objective of this presentation is to discuss the findings of contemporary, controlled, and prospective trials of surgical therapy for adult T2DM, which demonstrate dramatic early glycemic control, improvement in cardio...

Turner syndrome is a condition in females missing a sex chromosome (45,X) or parts of the second sex chromosome. It is considered a rare condition and associated with a range of characteristics, such as short stature, ovarian dysgenesis, delayed puberty and infertility, congenital malformations of the heart, endocrine disorders, including a range of autoimmune conditions and type 2 diabetes. Morbidity and mortality is clearly increased compared with the background population a...

Background: Kinase suppressor of Ras 2 (KSR2) gene codes for a scaffold protein modulating intracellular pathways that involve MEK/BRAF cascade and AMPK signaling. KSR2 plays an important role in energy balance regulation, and KSR2 mutations were reported to be associated with obesity and insulin resistance in mice and humans. In transfected cells, several KSR2 mutations lead to impaired fatty acid oxidation, which improved under met...

Background/aims: The high complexity of Pediatric reference ranges across age, sex and units impairs clinical application and comparability of steroid hormone data, e.g., in CAHs. We developed a Multiples-of-Median (MoM) normalization tool to overcome this major drawback in Pediatric Endocrinology.Methods: LC–MS/MS data comprising 10 steroid hormones representing 905 controls (555 males, 350 females, 0 to >16 years) from two previous datasets we...