ESPE Abstracts

Background: Newborn (NB) screening programs show a wide variation in congenital hypothyroidism (CH) incidence along the years.Objective and hypotheses: To describe CH incidence, etiology, associated malformations and Down Syndrome (DS) in children detected by our NB Screening Program. To search differences between permanent CH (PCH) and transient forms (TCH).Method: We analyzed NB with positive screening results referred between A...

Background: Patients with 46, XY DSD present conflicts and issues related to gender identity (GI) and change to male social sex in patients registered in the female social sex is not rare. The HTP test is a projective psychological test, which assesses aspects related to sexual identification. GI in this test is defined as female (F), male (M) or ambiguous.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate GI in patients with 46, XY DSD by the HTP test and compare th...

Background: Recent work revealed two pathways in androgen biosynthesis, namely the classic and an alternative, the backdoor pathway. In this alternative pathway dihydrotestosterone is produced from 17-hydroxyprogesterone without the intermediacy of testosterone using mostly enzymes that are specific to the backdoor path. In the human ovary, regulation of androgen production plays a crucial role in normal physiology and in pathologies such as the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS...

Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) results from inappropriate insulin secretion most commonly caused by mutations in the ABCC8 and KCNJ11 genes which encode for the pancreatic β-cells-ATP-sensitive-potassium channel (KATP) subunits SUR1 and KIR6.2 respectively. Diagnosis of CHI is based on the presence of detectable plasma insulin during hypoglycemia, suppressed β-hydroxybutyrate and NEFA. Diazoxide is the major treatment for CHI, sirolimus had also b...

Background: Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is frequent in adrenocortical tumors (ACTs). This pathway and DAX1, a negative regulator of SF1 expression, control adrenal stem/progenitor cells, which can be involved in ACTs formation.Objective: To analyse the association between the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the expression of a stem cell marker (NANOG), STAT3, DAX1 and SF1 in ACTs.Methods: Patients:...

Stress is increasingly associated with cardiac disease. Glucocorticoids are primary stress hormones that regulate homeostasis through two nuclear receptors, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). Cardiomyocytes express both receptors but little is known concerning their specific and coordinated actions in heart physiology and pathology. To examine the in vivo function of glucocorticoid signaling in the heart, we generated mice with cardi...

Background: P450 oxidoreductase (POR) mutations can present with disordered sexual development (46,XX virilisation as well as 46,XY under-masculinisation), perturbed steroidogenesis and mild to severe skeletal malformations. As POR is an obligate electron donating cofactor to many P450s, and as this interaction may vary from partner to partner, the phenotypic spectrum of PORD is extremely broad. Therefore, to characterize novel POR mutations, specific testing is required.<...

Background: Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are at risk of developing an unfavorable cardiovascular risk (CVR) profile. Data on the CVR profile in pediatric CAH patients are scarce.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the CVR profile of pediatric CAH patients.Method: A cross-sectional study in CAH patients (8–16 years) was performed (n=27). Blood was taken to evaluate several circulating CVR marker...

Background: Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis occur from 5 to 12.6%, significantly increasing during the teenage period and reaching 24–50% in adults.Method: An analysis of 499 medical records was conducted. All the patients were treated in the Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital in 2012. The survey was carried out on carbohydrate metabolism and indications according to children after 12 year...

Background: Previously we showed that pubertal children born small for gestational age (SGA) with a poor adult height (AH) expectation can benefit from treatment with GH 1 mg/m2 per day (~0.033 mg/kg per day) in combination with 2 years of GnRH analogue (GnRHa) and even more so with a double GH dose. GnRHa treatment is thought to have negative effects on body composition and blood pressure. Long-term effects and GH-dose effects on metabolic health in children treate...