ESPE Abstracts

Background: The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis displays a diurnal rhythm, peaking in the morning and with a nadir at night. However, not much is known about the development of the HPA- axis, although strikingly some evidence suggests that a rhythm with a peak in the afternoon is already present antenatally. We aimed to describe HPA-axis activity at age 1 month as well as study possible influencing factors.Methods</stro...

Background: Childhood obesity is associated with advanced bone age (BA), leading to an altered growth pattern. Previous results of studies suggest that androgens, estrogens, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and insulin are responsible for this phenomenon, but results are contradictory and might be biased by confounders.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the independent effects of estrogens, androgens, SHBG and insulin parameters on BA advancemen...

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) affects one in 3000 children at birth. In 65% of cases, CH is due to thyroid dysgenesis (CHDT). For CHDT, there is a family component and therefore genetic. Over the past 20 years, disease-causing mutations in 10 genes have been implicated in CHDT cases (NKX2-1/TTF1, FOXE1/TTF2, NKX2-5, PAX8, GLIS3, NTN1/Netrin-1, JAG1, BOREALIN/CDCA8, TUBB1</...

Background: While the risk for hypoglycemia during acute illness is well described in children with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), there is little evidence for the prevalence of asymptomatic hypoglycemia in CAH. We explored the glucose profile of children with classical CAH by the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).Methods: We conducted an observational study in children aged 1-6 years with a dia...

Case Report: A preterm boy was born at 35 weeks gestational age by cesarean section due to fetal macrossomia and polyhydramnios, weight 4980g (4.3 SDS, Intergrowth 21st), length 53cm (3.1 SDS), 1-min-Apgar 2. He needed resuscitation after birth, and his glycemia was 20 mg/dL. At the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), he presented with severe hypoglycemia (10mg/dL) and required intravenous glucose infusion rate (GIR) 10mg/kg/min that increased progressively u...

Background: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a monogenic form of diabetes, with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and high penetrance. To this date, it is known 13 subtypes of MODY with different genetic etiologies. It is characterized by high incidence in the family, an early onset and primary defect in pancreatic β-cell function.Objective and hypotheses: The primary objective of this study is to identify patients with MODY an...

Introduction: Thyroid nodular disease in paediatric age has a lower prevalence but higher rate of malignancy compared to adults. The most frequent risk factors for thyroid cancer are young age, family history, underlying thyroid disease, previous malignancy, genetic predisposition and radiation exposure.Objectives: Describe the demographics, nodules’ etiology and malignancy characteristics and compare the diagnosti...

Background: Mc Cune Albright (MAS), is a rare genetic disease clinically defined by bone fibrous dysplasia (BFD), café au lait skin spots and at least one hyperfunction endocrinopathy. Growth Hormone (GH) excess has been described in 20% of patients usually accompanied by hyperprolactinemia (80%). As reported in literature GH hypersecretion is allways associated with craniofacial BFD, macrocephaly and is also accompanied by higher risk of systemic...

Background: Most studies examined immune/inflammatory parameters in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) showing discrepant results and not yield definitive conclusions. A study carried out by our group in 2013 compared meta-immunologic profiles of three groups: high-risk children, newly diagnosed children affected by T1D and controls.Objective and hypotheses: To compare metabolic profile in three groups: children affected by T1D and an additional autoimmune d...

Background: The correlation between obesity and depression is well established. Tryptophan (Trp) is an essential amino acid that acts as substrate for serotonin and melatonin biosynthesis, both know to play a role in satiety, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, low plasma Trp levels have been associated with obesity.Objective: To investigate the effects of Trp supplementation as a conjunctive therapy to conventional life-style intervention on weight lo...