ESPE Abstracts

Background: Childhood obesity is a serious health problem, related to an increased risk of adult morbidity and mortality. Evidence indicates that central adiposity increases this risk to a higher degree compared to the general obesity indices.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the distribution of anthropometric obesity indices among preschool children aged 3.5–5.5 years, from six European countries, and to examine their associations with certain ...

Background: Isolated growth hormone deficiency is the most common pituitary hormone deficiency, although the majority of cases are idiopathic. The presence of pituitary structural abnormalities may influence growth hormone (GH) deficiency severeness.Objective: Assess the effect of pituitary abnormalities in idiopathic isolated growth hormone deficiency (IIGHD).Methods: We analysed 65 children with IIGHD and pituitary magnetic resso...

Background: Waist circumference (WC) reflects the fat distribution and the degree of central adiposity in children, which is specifically associated with cardiovascular risk factors and useful as a component of metabolic syndrome definition in children.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the distribution of WC measures among preschool children aged 3.5–5.5 years from six European countries.Method: Cross-sectional study of a ...

Background: It is well known that ingestion of a high fat diet (HFD) can induce rapid weight gain and metabolic imbalances. However, males and females are not equally susceptible to these effects. Furthermore, an individual may be more prone to gain weight during specific developmental periods.Aims and objectives: We aimed to analyse the response to the acute exposure to a HFD during pubertal/adolescent period and to determine whether males and females r...

Introduction: Childhood obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are rising in prevalence, increasing the future adults' cardio-metabolic risk. One of the potential mechanisms behind these alterations is oxidative stress, fruit of increased free radical production and diminished antioxidant defense. Although low plasma vitamin concentrations and oxidative stress have been observed to be associated with obesity in adults and children, their association with IR i...

Introduction: In the last years, the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) has increased in children, contributing to raise the risk of future cardiovascular disease. It is known that family history, pregnancy characteristics and type of feeding in the first months of life are of great importance in the prevention of diseases in the offspring. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between early life risk factors and HBP in children and adolescents.<p clas...

Introduction: Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus (NDM) is characterised by severe hyperglycaemia, usually diagnosed in the first 6 months of life. Genetic diagnosis helps distinguishing between its different causes and between transient (TNDM) and permanent (PNDM) forms, with repercussions on the therapeutic approach and follow-up.Aim: Clinical and molecular characterisation of a series of NMD cases under endocrinological follow...

Background: Studies aimed at elucidating the pathophysiology of obesity consistently describe it as a highly heterogeneous disorder at both clinical and molecular level. Despite rare monogenic forms and several regions of susceptibility have been defined, the genetic causes underlying the disease remain largely unknown.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to identify novel genetic abnormalities in a cohort of Spanish children with severe non-syndromic earl...

Background: The prevalence of childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is increasing and the age at presentation is falling. Late presentation with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is more common in younger children who are at increased risk of cerebral oedema.Objective and hypotheses: To describe the clinical presentation of new onset T1DM to our centre and report time to diagnosis, incidence of DKA, requirement for intensive care and complications.<p c...

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. A more complex immunological picture is being unraveled, with a key role of innate immune cells at disease onset and maintenance. For new therapies based on immune-modulation to be possible, immune characterization of T1D patients is crucial.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to characterise innate and adaptive immune cells of T1D children at a well-defined ‘onset-window&#146...