ESPE Abstracts

Background: Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b (PHP1b) is caused by epigenetic errors on the maternal GNAS allele at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with exons A/B, XL, and NESP that lead to reduced production of Gαs transcripts most notably in the renal proximal tubule and thyroid follicular cells. Most PHP1b cases appear sporadically, few of which can be explained by paternal uniparental disomy involving chromosome 20q, leading to global methy...

Background: Graves’ disease therapy in young children may be challenging due to lack of therapy options. The safety of Radioiodine Ablation (RIA) has not been proven in children under age of 10 years. Propylthioracil (PTU) therapy has been linked to hepatic failure and became contraindicated in pediatrics.The case: A 6-year-old female was diagnosed with Graves ‘disease and treated with Methimazole (MTZ) and Propranolol. A few days after startin...

Introduction: Most testis expressed (TEX) genes are testis-specific and evolutionarily conserved and several studies have reported important roles of TEX11, TEX12, TEX14, TEX15 and TEX 101 in mammalian fertility. Retrotransposons are thought to be critical for the evolution of mammalian genomes. TEX19 functions in the post-translational regulation of L1 retrotransposons, which are involved in maintaining trans-generational genome stability. In boys with crypto...

Introduction: Multiple studies have demonstrated that histone lysine methyltransferases regulate gene transcription, thereby influencing cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell migration, and tissue invasion.Aim of the study: Here we describe the key functions of histone lysine methyltransferases and chromatin remodeling genes and summarize their role in infertility.Patients and Meth...

Introduction: Reversible post-translational modifications (PTMs) dynamically regulate the activities of numerous proteins. The Small Ubiquitin-related Modifier (SUMO) proteins are conjugated to lysines in their target proteins in a process termed SUMOylation. This PTM regulates, among others, transcription, gene silencing, chromatin structure and DNA repair. Here, we investigated the expression of five SUMO genes in testicular samples from patients with crypto...

Introduction: Resetting the epigenome in human primordial germ cells is critical for their development. It has been shown that a regulatory network established by SOX17 and PRDM1/BLIMP1 represses DNA methylation pathways and activates TET-mediated hydroxymethylation. (1) Testicular samples from high infertility risk (HIR) cryptorchid boys with defective mini-puberty and impaired differentiation of Ad spermatogonia display altered expression of genes encoding h...

Objective: Craniopharyngioma is a benign brain tumour with frequent local recurrence after treatment. Growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT) is prescribed in children with growth hormone deficiency due to childhood-onset craniopharyngioma. The objective was to evaluate whether shorter time delay of GHRT initiation after childhood-onset craniopharyngioma completion therapy increased the risk of recurrence.Design: Our r...

Background: Following the intense debates and controversies regarding all forms of genital surgeries on minors, particularly the appropriateness of clitoral surgeries, assessing all outcomes of clitoromegaly management is imperative in directing future management.Methods: As part of a broader qualitative interview study involving 25 parents of patients with confirmed cases of clitoromegaly due to congenital adrenal hyper...

Background: Turmeric is a popular ingredient in the cuisine of many Asian countries. It is also known for its use in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. It comes from the root of the Curcuma longa. Turmeric is rich in curcuminoids, including curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Curcumin has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic activities. Since many anti-cancer drugs target enzymes from the steroidogenic pathway, we tested the bioactivi...

Background: IGF1 is the key effector peptide in the control of normal growth. IGF1 deficiency in the presence of normal GH is associated with growth failure. This may be caused by primary defects in the GH-IGF1 axis or by conditions such as malnutrition or chronic inflammation. Severe primary IGF1 deficiency (height <−3 S.D., serum IGF1 <2.5th centile, GH normal) is an European Medicines Agency (EMA) licensed indication for rhIGF1 therapy. We repor...