ESPE Abstracts

Background: Growth Hormone (GH) plays an important role in linear growth and in bone turnover during childhood. GH deficiency (GHD) may cause secondary osteoporosis associated to low bone mineral density (BMD), impairment of bone turnover and increased fracture rate. The effects of treatment with recombinant human Growth Hormone (rhGH) on bone metabolism are controversial. We aimed to assess BMD using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) among a cohort of children with GHD ...

Background: Several visfatin, retinol binding protein 4(RBP4) and high affinity receptor for RBP4, STRA6 (stimulated by retinoic acid) single nuclear polymorphisms’ (SNP) have been investigated regarding their relationship with obesity with controversial results.Aim: To analyze the association of two specific SNP for visfatin, RBP4 and STRA6 with anthropometric markers of obesity in children.Material and method: A case control...

Clinical history and symptoms: XX, 9.37 years, was referred to our Clinic for obesity and psycho-motor delay. Family history: Fibromyalgic mother, two maternal cousins with psycho-motor delay, paternal uncle with epilepsy and intellectual disability. Born at term from caesarean section for placental detachment after physiological pregnancy (birth weight g 1900, SGA). In the first years of life she had psychomotor retardation, episodes of affective spasms, nocturnal enuresis, a...

Childhood obesity is the consequence of a complex interaction among several factors: environment, genetics, endocrine disorders, medications and other conditions. Genetic factors are described to be causal factors in up to 30–50% of overweight conditions. Although polygenetic obesity is by far the most commonly observed, several obesity related syndromes associated with single gene defects have been identified.Case presentation: A three year old gir...

Background: Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy candidiasis ectodermal dystrophy (APECED) or autoimmune polyendocrinopathy type 1 (APS-1) is a rare monogenic autosomal recessive disease due to pathogenic variants in the AIRE gene. APECED usually begins during early childhood with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), followed by hypopathyroidism (HP) and Addison’s disease (AD); however, other endocrine and non-endocrine components may occur with a different prevalen...

Background: Abnormalities of cervical spine have been described in association with pituitary anomalies in the context of malformative syndromes with midline defects. Several genes are involved in the control of pituitary gland development, differentiation and function. In particular, the presence of os odontoideum has been reported in one case of pituitary hypoplasia, associated with leg anomalies, renal dysplasia and no aberrations of the BMP4, BMP2 and PTX1 genes. In anothe...

Context: Disorders of sexual development (DSD) are those medical conditions with abnormalities of sex chromosomes, gonads, internal ducts or external genitalia. Sex determination and differentiation is a process under genetic control, only partially explained. Genetic testing and identification of a cause in DSD is essential for a precise diagnosis and correct management and also has an important psychosocial motivation.Aim: To make a genomic analyse, us...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a long-term complication of pediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and it was described more often in patients who were exposed to total body irradiation (TBI). Since previous studies reported discrepancy in the presence of metabolic complications in HSCT survivors who underwent chemotherapy-only conditioning, we investigated the frequency of MS in our HSCT-treated children for various disorders without being exposed to...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) affects about one in 2500 liveborn females. It results from the loss of all or part of X-chromosome and has a variable phenotype. The classical form is characterised by short stature, skeletal abnormalities, lymphedema, renal and cardiac anomalies, webbed neck, peculiar neurocognitive profile and gonadal dysgenesis. While loss of up to 2/3 of the X chromosome short arm is compatible with normal fertility, chromosome deletions involving Xq are o...

Background: Sitosterolemia is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intestinal hyperabsorption and decreased biliary excretion of dietary plant sterol, due to mutations in adenosine-triphosphate (ATP)-binding-cassette (ABC) transporter family (ABCG8 and ABCG5).Case report: A 7.86 years old boy was referred to the Childhood Lipid Clinic due to incidental finding of hypercholesterolemia: total cholesterol 524 mg/dl (13.54 mmol/l), LDL-choles...