ESPE Abstracts

Background: Skeletal muscle is the largest tissue involved in the insulin-stimulated disposal of glucose, with its size being controlled by hormonal status, among other factors. Leptin plays a primary role in the regulation of glucose homeostasis with a substantial degree of insulin and leptin cross-talk in muscle. However, the relationship between the leptin’s central effects on insulin sensitivity in muscle and associated structural changes remain unclear.<p class="...

The physiology of adrenarche, i.e. the development of the zona reticularis of the adrenal cortex, is mostly unknow. Some genes of steroidogenic enzymes need to be down- (HSD3B2) while others upregulated (e.g. CYB5) to enhance androgen production in zona reticularis, but it is not known how this is regulated. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that can affect gene expression at posttranscriptional level. We hypothesized that miRNAs might be involved in regulating adr...

Rationale: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common complication after preterm birth that is associated with neurodevelopmental impairment. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) has been identified as a biomarker for neuroaxonal damage in preterm infants, but its relation with BPD has not yet been established. We hypothesized that BPD is associated with increased NfL levels at an early stage, indicative of early neuroaxonal damage....

Introduction: Short stature is a frequent reason for consultation in the paediatric age group. After appropriate clinical, radiological and laboratory evaluation, up to 60-80% of children are classified as idiopathic short stature (ISS) because no underlying cause can be found. Nowadays, the spreading of molecular is revealing that many of the patients initially classified as TBI, have variants in genes involved in the growth plate development. IHH gene is inv...

Introduction: Hyperinsulinaemic Hypoglycaemia (HH) is one of the commonest causes of hypoglycaemia in infancy. It is characterised by hypoketotic, hypofattyacidaemic and hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia. The molecular basis of HH includes defects in pathways that regulate insulin release; to date, 12 genes have been associated with monogenic forms of HH (ABCC8, KCNJ11, GLUD1, GCK, HADH1, UCP2, MCT1, HNF4A, HNF1A, HK1, PGM1, PMM2). However, no genetic aetiology has been...

Background: Management of patients with CAH remains challenging. There is increasing evidence to suggest that failure to optimize treatment during childhood not only affects final height but also leads to psychological and psychiatric problems. Previous qualitative structural T2-weighted MRI studies have identified white matter hyper-intensities in up to 46% of CAH patients. The nature and functional relevance of these abnormalities remains unknown.Objec...

Background: The inheritable component of familial Papillary Thyroid Cancer (fPTC) was recently attributed to monogenic defects in a reduced number of genes including DICER1. DICER1 codes for a ribonuclease of the RNaseIII family essential for the biogenesis of microRNAs.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to identify germline and/or somatic mutations in DICER1 in a familial pedigree with PTC, multinodular goiter (MNG) and other ...

Background: Acromesomelic dysplasia Maroteaux type (AMDM) (OMIM 602875) is a rare autosomal recessive skeletal disorder with an approximate prevalence of 1/1,000,000) and characterized by severe dwarfism accompanied by shortness of distal and middle segments of extremities. Mutations in the NPR2 gene which encodes for the natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B) is the underlying genetic cause of this disorder.Objective and hypotheses: Genetic con...

Background: Insulin/IGF1 signaling plays a critical role in central glucose bioavailability and lipid metabolism. An increase in glucose disposal can generate reducing agents through the pentose-phosphate pathway necessary for the synthesis of free fatty acids (FFA). Disturbances in lipid synthesis are related to the appearance of insulin resistance and diabetes. The insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) deficient mice (IRS2−/−) is an excellent model to st...

Background: While GH therapy forms the mainstay of growth promoting treatment for Turner syndrome (TS), adjunctive use of oxandrolone and optimal timing of pubertal induction remain controversial. The previously published interim analysis of this randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial demonstrated that oxandrolone and pubertal induction at 14y vs 12y significantly increased final height. However, these effects were not additive.Objective: To up...