ESPE Abstracts

Background: Glucocorticoids exert profound immune-modulating effects and regulate the expression of genes involved in cell cycle progression and apoptosis. Synthetic glucocorticoids are the most potent agents used in the treatment of inflammatory, autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders. Considerable variation in response to therapeutic doses of glucocorticoids exists among individuals, as evidenced by differences both in disease response and in the incidence of glucocort...

Background: In humans, glucocorticoids (GCs) regulate a broad spectrum of physiologic functions, exerting both genomic and nongenomic actions through their ubiquitously expressed glucocorticoid receptor (hGR). The rapid nongenomic actions of GCs are likely to be mediated by membrane hGRs that transduce the glucocorticoid signal via activation of kinases. S-palmitoylation plays an important role in plasma membrane localization and occurs through a highly conserved nine amino ac...

Background: The noncoding RNA growth-arrest-specific transcript 5 (Gas5) is abundant in cells whose growth has been arrested owing to lack of nutrients or growth factors. Gas5 is a riborepressor of the glucocorticoid receptor, influencing cell survival and metabolic activities during starvation by inhibiting the latter’s transcriptional activity.Aim: To determine the expression levels of Gas5 in blood samples of obese, overweight and lean children a...

Background: Primary generalised glucocorticoid resistance (PGGR) is a rare condition characterised by tissue insensitivity to glucocorticoids owing to inactivating mutations of the hGR gene. A new case of PGGR was reported in a patient with an adrenal incidentaloma harboring a novel heterozygous point mutation in the hGR gene, which resulted in threonine (T) to isoleucine (I) substitution at amino acid position 556 of the receptor.Objec...

Introduction: Compelling evidence suggests that Primary Aldosteronism (PA) is much more prevalent than previously thought, accounting for more than 20% of patients with resistant hypertension. Although, major advances have been made in the field of genetics underpinning sporadic and familial forms of PA, the etiology of mild forms of PA is poorly understood. In previous studies, we identified a distinct cohort of patients without PA who exhibited ACTH-dependen...

Background: Tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids is characterized by significant inter-individual variation in terms of therapeutic response and susceptibility to several stress-related disorders. Proteomics approaches, combined with appropriate bioinformatics analysis, offer a comprehensive description of molecular phenotypes with clear links to human disease pathophysiology.Objective and Hypotheses: To investigate the usefulness of pl...

Introduction: Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) is clinically and genetically heterogeneous type of Monogenic Diabetes (MD) and to date 14 genes have been associated with different MODY subtypes. It is a rare disease characterized by early onset hyperglycemia, autosomal dominant inheritance, and defect in β cell insulin secretion, often misclassified as T1DM or T2DM.Materials and Methods: Genetic analysis ...

Introduction-Purpose: In addition to chromosomal abnormalities, a number of genes have been implicated as causes of Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD). The NR5A1 (SF-1) gene expresses a transcription factor that plays a role in steroidogenesis by controlling multiple stages of adrenal and gonadal development, and its mutations have been reported in cases of DSD.Case presentation: A 152/12-year-old teenager ...

Introduction: Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation, and its low level causes several side effects related to hypoparathyroidism, hypocalcaemia, and vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, some of the cases of hypomagnesemia are linked to platinum-based chemotherapy, resulting in neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Dorsal root ganglion is the main target of platinum drugs, whereby its signs and symptoms can be detected months after chemotherapy. ...

Background: The increasing incidence of obesity is a serious global public health challenge. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system, including adipose tissue. Increasing evidence from epidemiological, animal, and in vitro studies shows that EDCs, in particular bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates (e.g. di-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate, DEHP), can affect body weight, adipogenesis and circulating lipid profile,...