ESPE Abstracts

Background: Inhalation corticosteroids (ICS) as treatment for asthma can interfere with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and could lead to hypocortisolism. The frequency of this systemic side effect and the correlation to ICS usage is still unclear. Given that the cortisol excretion is pulsatile and determined by acute stress and circadian rhythms, the usefulness of tests based on momentary measures, such as saliva or serum are therefore limited. Cortisol levels measure...

Background: Peak stimulated growth hormone (GH) levels are known to decrease with increasing BMI, possibly leading to overdiagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) in children with overweight and obesity. However, current guidelines do not provide guidance how to interpret peak GH values of these children. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to study the effect of BMI standard deviation score (SDS) on stimulated peak GH values in children, to identi...

Context: Transgender adolescents can be treated with puberty suppression (PS) using GnRH agonists (GnRHa), and subsequent hormone therapy (HT). Up to this date, it has not been described at what rate body composition in transgender adolescents changes during the first years of treatment. Also, it is unknown whether Tanner stage at which treatment is initiated, might affect this treatment outcome.Methods: Transgender adol...

Leptin receptor deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s ability to regulate appetite and weight. For patients and their families, the disorder seriously disrupts daily life, however, little is published about this impact. We here report the experiences of a 10.5-year-old girl with leptin receptor deficiency and her family. The diagnosis of this rare genetic obesity had a deep impact on the life of the child and her family. It led to a better underst...

Context: Supra-physiological exogenous corticosteroids used during the last months of pregnancy may lead to temporary neonatal adrenal suppression. Little is known about the outcome of neonates from mothers who used corticosteroids during pregnancy.Objective: The evaluation of clinical symptoms and biochemical findings of adrenal suppression in neonates from mothers using corticosteroids during pregnancy.<p class="ab...

Background: Underlying causes of obesity are thought to be rare even in specialized paediatric endocrinology clinics. However, evidence is limited. The Endocrine Society (ES) guideline for paediatric obesity makes the following diagnostic recommendations: endocrine evaluation in presence of reduced growth velocity, evaluation of cerebral obesity in presence of CNS injury, re-evaluation of drug choice in patients using antipsychotics. Genetic testing is recomme...

Background: Early-onset obesity is associated with genetic obesity disorders. According to the Endocrine Society guideline for paediatric obesity, genetic screening is indicated in selected cases with age of onset (AoO) of obesity <5 years. However, this cut-off value lacks evidence. Identifying genetic obesity is vital as treatment for leptin-melanocortin pathway disorders becomes available. We aimed to determine whether AoO of obesity is predictive for g...

Background: Obesity has been associated with perturbations of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Scalp hair cortisol has been recognized as a reliable index of long-term cortisol concentrations.Objective and hypotheses: Aim of this study was to compare indices of HPA axis and SNS activities, such as, respectively, the salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase diurnal patterns, and their relations i...

Background: Current guidelines suggest to test obese subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for the presence of type 2 diabetes. This strategy, however, misses most cases of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).Objective and hypotheses: To investigate whether combining risk factors improves predictability of IGT in OGTT.Method: In this observational study of 145 overweight children, aged 2.5&...

Background: Children with obesity show differences in brain structure, executive function and appetitive traits when compared to lean peers. Results of imaging studies, however, have been contradictory.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate whether childhood obesity is associated with differences in brain structure and whether differences associate with executive function and appetitive traits.Method: A cross-sectional case-contr...