ESPE Abstracts

Background: In Italy monogenic forms of hyperglycemia account for more than 6% of cases referred to pediatric diabetes clinics. In January 2019 we started a Monogenic Diabetes Clinic (MDC) with the three main aims: a) implementing a standardized pathway towards genetic testing, 2) ease the revision of complex cases, 3) implement standardized therapies for monogenic diabetes mellitus (MDM) subtypes.Methods: Type 1 diabete...

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,...

Background: Over the past several decades, the age of pubertal onset in girls has shifted downward worldwide. Several factors including genetic predisposition, psychosocial and socio-economic conditions, diet and ethnicity may have contributed to this phenomenon. Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that the exposure to BPA and DEHP may be associated with early onset of puberty in girls.Objective: To investigate...

Background: The increasing incidence of obesity is a global public health challenge. Although energy imbalance is the major cause of obesity, evidence suggests that other risk factors such as exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may contribute to the development of obesity. Early life exposure to obesogens may result in a higher risk of developing obesity. Among the chemicals suspected to have obesogenic effects, bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are under worldwid...

Background: Over the past several decades, the age of pubertal onset in girls has shifted downward worldwide. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during critical windows of development may play a role in this trend. Epidemiological and animal studies showed that exposure to phthalates and BPA could be associated with earlier puberty onset in girls.Objective: To investigate the association between the exposure to BPA, DEHP’s metabolites...

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...

Hypercalcemia and nephrocalcinosis (NC) are rare findings associated with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), whose pathogenetic mechanisms are still unclear. In this study we aimed to investigate the prevalence of NC in a cohort of Italian children affected with classical form of CAH, and to correlate its association with metabolic control of the disease.Subjects and Methods: This is a multicenter one year-perspective study involving ...

Objectives: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is the most common thyroid abnormality in Down Syndrome (DS) children (25-60%); its etiology remains still not completely clarified. Aim of this prospective multicenter study was to evaluate prevalence and natural course of autoimmune and non-autoimmune SH in a large cohort of DS children and adolescents.Methods: The study population included 101 DS patients with SH (TSH 5-...

Background: Association of hypothyroidism, isosexual precocious puberty and macrogonadism was first described by Van Wyk Grumbach in 1960. Van Wyk Grumbach syndrome (VWGS) was reported predominantly in females, precocious puberty and clinical picture of hypothyroidism being the clinical hallmarks.Objective and hypotheses: Publishing additional data on clinical and hormonal spectrum of VWGS, providing for better understanding of its pathology and primary ...

Background: Perinatal factors seem to influence the onset of puberty. There is some evidence suggesting that being born small for gestational age (SGA) is associated with early puberty, whereas the effect of large size at birth on timing of puberty is not clear.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the timing of puberty in children born SGA and large for gestational age (LGA) compared to children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA).<p class="a...