ESPE Abstracts

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children results in reduced adult height. Children with GHD typically require daily subcutaneous (s.c.) injections of growth hormone (GH). Daily injections are burdensome for both patients and their caregivers and reduced adherence negatively impacts clinical outcomes. Somapacitan (Novo Nordisk) is a long-acting reversible albumin-binding human GH derivative in development for once-weekly s.c. administration in children with GHD, aiming to ov...

Background: Oligo-ovulatory androgen excess in women (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by NIH definition) is a major cause of subfertility and relates to hepatic steatosis, independently of obesity.Objective: To test whether early treatment of PCOS affects subsequent ovulation rate.Method: Adolescent girls with hyperinsulinemic androgen excess – a subgroup of PCOS – (mean age 16 year; BMI 23.7 kg/m2) randomly r...

Background: Fetal growth is partly regulated by epigenetic factors, such as DNA methylation. Altered methylation status in placental genes relates to gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and prematurity. However, the epigenetic mechanisms underlying fetal growth restraint in uncomplicated pregnancies remain unknown.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed at identifying new candidate genes related to fetal growth, by assessing DNA methylation profiling in placen...

Background: Prenatal growth restraint associates with risk for later diabetes particularly if such restraint is followed by postnatal formula-feeding (FOF) rather than breast-feeding (BRF). Circulating incretins can influence the neonatal programming of hypothalamic setpoints for appetite and energy expenditure, and are thus candidate mediators of the long-term effects exerted by early nutrition.Objective, hypotheses and method: We have tested this conce...

Background: Infants born small-for-gestational age (SGA) who develop postnatal weight catch-up are at risk for insulin resistance, central adiposity and cardiovascular disease in later life, even in the absence of overweight.Objective and hypotheses: In young (age 3–6 years) non-obese SGA children, we assessed arterial health by intima-media thickness (IMT) and abdominal fat distribution (subcutaneous, visceral, pre-peritoneal and hepatic components...

Background: Hyperinsulinemic androgen excess is the most common cause of hirsutism, acne, seborrhea and menstrual irregularity in adolescent girls. The ovarian androgen excess originates most often from an absolute or relative excess of fat (in adipose tissue and in organs such as the liver) and from the ensuing elevations in insulinaemia and gonadotropin secretion. There is no approved therapy for androgen excess in adolescent girls. The prime recommendation is to reduce body...

Background: Since its introduction in 1978, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been widely used to treat infertility. Worldwide, over 8 million children have been conceived by ART. Literature suggests that ART-adolescents potentially display altered vascular function. However, data concerning the cardiometabolic impact on the vascular function in ART-adolescents is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of blood lipids and HbA1c-levels...

Background: Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a rare multiple congenital malformation and intellectual disability syndrome. KS is caused by pathogenic variants in the genes KMT2D or KDM6A. In 0.3-4% of patients, KS is reported to be associated with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. The objective of this study was to characterize the clinical, biochemical and molecular data of children with KS and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia.<s...

Background: Transient neonatal diabetes (TNDM) is commonly caused by a methylation loss in the 6q24 region, either in isolation or as multiple-loci demethylation due to ZFP57 gene mutation. TNDM is biphasic; usually resolves after 2–3 months but often recurs between age 4 and late adolescence.Case: The boy was born at 38 weeks of gestation (birth weight 3340 g, healthy consanguineous Turkish parents, unremarkable pregnancy). He presented at...

Background: Brain abnormalities like cerebral midline malformations (CMM) can be detected by fetal sonography. CMM with neonatal hypopituitarism may cause severe hypoglycemia.Case presentation: We report about three cases of term eutrophic newborns, which all presented with severe neonatal hypoglycemia despite prenatally diagnosed CMM. All three patients were born vaginally and were immediately breastfed after normal postnatal adaptation. In the first ca...