ESPE Abstracts

Background: In adult women, serum levels of AMH reflect both the number of small growing follicles and remaining primordial follicles. AMH levels range 15 fold between healthy girls. Interpretation of AMH is contentious due to minor intra-individual changes around time of pubertal onset despite continuous loss of primordial follicles.Objective and Hypotheses: To describe ovarian morphology (volume, follicles) in healthy girls and adolescents in relation ...

Background: Obesity in childhood is defined by age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off values. However, BMI does not disclose the distribution of fat mass. Increased abdominal adipose tissue is associated with a higher risk of cardio-metabolic disease in adulthood. Thus, precise measurements of abdominal adipose tissue in children may enable early prevention of disease.Objective and hypotheses: To validate measurements of abdominal adipose tissue by anthropome...

Background: SOX2 is an early developmental transcription factor implicated in pituitary development; heterozygous SOX2 mutations have been reported in patients with a severe ocular phenotype and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH) with/without associated abnormalities. SOX2 physically interacts with β-catenin, a member of the Wnt-signalling pathway, via its carboxyl-terminus and it represses in vitroβ-catenin mediated activation.<p class="abstex...

Background and Aim: Several genetic variants associating with hepatic fat content in adults have been identified in genome-wide association studies. Their effects in children remain unclear. This study aimed to test the effect of genetic variants known to associate with hepatic fat in adults, individually and combined as a genetic risk score (GRS), on cardiometabolic traits, and to investigate the predictive ability of the GRS for hepatic steatosis in children...

The conspicuous increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the Western world after World War II cannot be explained solely by genetic factors but suggests that this rise must be due to crucial interactions between predisposing genes and environmental changes. Three parallel phenomena in early childhood – the dynamic development of the immune system, the maturation of the gut microbiome and the appearance of the first T1D-associated autoantibodies – imply...

The mammalian thyroid gland stands out in comparison to other organs as it develops from no less than three independent anlagen that originate in anterior endoderm. The median or central anlage present in the pharyngeal floor gives rise to the thyroid bud or diverticulum that provides progenitors to the thyroxin-producing follicular cells. Bilaterally, the ultimobranchial bodies bud off from the inferior-most pharyngeal pouch. Until recently those structures were considered me...

Background: Sexual maturation is closely linked to growth, suggesting common pathways between the reproductive development and the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH/IGF-I) axis. IGF-I bioavailability is regulated by Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) and Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2). A large genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified PAPP-A, PAPP-A2 and STC2 to represent loci strongly a...

Background: Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a rare, heterogeneous disease with a focal, diffuse, or atypical histological form and a high risk of cerebral injury due to severe hypoglycemia.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the treatment and outcome of a cohort of patients with non-focal, persistent CHI admitted to the International Hyperinsulinism Center, Denmark from January 2000 to May 2017. Data were extracted from hospital files.<p class=...

Background: The anogenital distance (AGD) is considered a valid marker of altered androgen action in utero. Recently, reduced AGD has been shown in males with hypospadias, cryptorchidism, reduced semen quality and infertility. It has also been proposed as a new marker to be used by clinicians when managing patients with Disorders of Sex Development. However, little normative data exist and measurement methods vary.Objective and hypotheses: We established...

Background: The heterozygous mutation in the SRCAP gene (611421) on chromosome 16p11.2 causes a rare genetic disorder named Floating–Harbor syndrome (FHS). The clinical diagnosis of FHS is characterized by a triad of short stature with significantly delayed bone age; expressive language delay, usually in the presence of normal motor development; and a triangular face with prominent nose and deep-set eyes.Objective: To investigate the presence of SRC...