ESPE Abstracts

Background: The C19MC locus microRNA gene cluster is imprinted in the placenta. Imprinted genes control prenatal development and placental functions, and are epigenetically regulated. The factors that affect the DNA methylation status of C19MC regulatory region are unknown, as is the impact of this differential methylation on the offspring’s body size.Objectives: To study in humans 1) the association of placental C19MC DNA...

Background: Gestational obesity has not only adverse effects on the mothers’ health but also on the developing fetus. Newborns of obese pregnant women have increased birth weight and increased risk for obesity and associated diseases in adulthood. The mechanisms by which maternal nutrition induce these changes in the offspring may involve microRNAs (miRNAs) regulation.Aims and objectives: To study the associations between circulating miRNAs altered ...

Background: miRNAs are valuable circulating biomarkers and therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases. A differential pattern of miRNAs has been described in pregnant women with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes; however, it is unknown whether maternal obesity affects the profile of circulating miRNAs.Aims and objectives: To define the circulating pattern of miRNAs in pregestational and gestational obesity; and to explore their associations with mater...

Background: Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is shed from the cell surface into the circulation as a specific marker of macrophage activation. Macrophages are involved in low-grade inflammatory states such as obesity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the relationships between circulating sCD163 and metabolic parameters in asymptomatic prepubertal children.Method: A population of 236 school-aged Caucasian children (111 girls and 125 bo...

Objective: KIGS (Pfizer International Growth Survey) was a large, international database of pediatric patients who received recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) as prescribed in real-world clinical settings. This analysis evaluated the long-term safety and efficacy data from all participants until KIGS close in 2012.Methods: Children with growth disorders and treated with rhGH (Genotropin® [somatropin]...

Introduction: Imprinted genes are critical for placental function and normal fetal growth and development. Very little is known about the impact of maternal obesity on imprinted genes and their role in postnatal growth and metabolism.Objectives: 1) To identify umbilical cord DNA methylation sites (CpG) associated with gestational weight gain (GWG); 2) to identify which of these CpGs lie within imprinting control regions ...

Introduction: Children with Prader-Willi syndrome present with short stature and obesity. However, very little is known about the role of this imprinted control region in the general population. This study aims to analyze the methylation status of the PWS imprinting control region (ICR) in placenta and its association with postnatal growth and obesity parameters in healthy children.Methodology: The methylation percentages of the PWS-ICR ...

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) children who experience rapid and exaggerated postnatal catch-up are prone to develop insulin resistance and to progress faster into puberty, resulting in a shorter final height. Short, non-catch-up SGA children treated with recombinant human GH (rhGH) may present with the same sequence. In a previous controlled study from our group performed in short SGA children, metformin – added to rhGH therapy – improved endocrine-meta...

Background: Telomere length at birth is a major determinant of telomere length at later ages, up into senescence. However, the prenatal setting of telomere length is poorly understood. Individuals born large are at lower risk for later-life disorders, such as diabetes, than those born small, a feature of their longer health span being a higher lean mass that provides more muscle strength and is already present in infancy.Objective and hypotheses: To asse...

Background: Muscle is key to glucose metabolism. Myogenesis is completed in early infancy, partly under the inhibitory control of myostatin, a myokine whose actions can be influenced by follistatin. Early lowering of myostatin actions is thus a potential strategy to reduce the risk for later diabetes.Objective and hypotheses: We performed a first screening of whether such lowering is among the natural mechanisms whereby some human infants augment their l...