ESPE Abstracts

Context: Analysis of steroids by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) defines a subject’s ‘steroidal fingerprint’. Here, we clustered steroidal fingerprints to classify childhood obesity by ’steroid metabolomic signatures’.Methods: Urinary samples of 87 children (44 F) age 8.5–18.0 with obesity (BMI >97%) underwent solid phase extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis and derivatization. 31 steroids metabolites wer...

Background: Steroids are found in human blood predominantly as sulfated steroids. Conjugation of steroids increases their solubility in blood, facilitating their physiological regulation and excretion. Chromatographic separation and quantification of an extensive number of sulfated steroids is challenging. For instance, androgen sulfates are structurally related and their signals are very similar in mass spectrometry.Objective and hypotheses: Some of the...

Initially discovered in the 1970s, the C21 steroidal acids α-cortolic acid, β-cortolic acid, α-cortolonic acid and β-cortolonic acid present the terminal oxidative products of cortisol metabolism. Undergoing renal elimination, these cortoic acids have been assumed to represent up to 25% of total urinary cortisol metabolites. However, their analysis has been difficult, only few data has been published in adults, and this class of steroids has beco...

Background: Low birth-weight and unfavourable intrauterine conditions are associated with a subsequent impact on the endocrine system. Many studies reported hyperandrogenaemia and precocious adrenarche in children born small for gestational age (SGA). However, little information is available on steroid profiles in these subjects.Objective and Hypotheses: We followed genetically identical twins with intra-twin birth-weigh...

Background: Biallelic mutations of the CYP11B2 aldosterone synthase gene cause deficiency of aldosterone synthesis. Patients exhibit isolated deficiency of aldosterone biosynthesis, increased plasma renin activity, increased steroid precursors desoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, as well as 18-hydroxy-desoxycorticosterone, and show salt wasting and poor growth. The aldosterone synthase enzyme has 18-hydroxylase (corticosterone methyloxidase type I, CMO I) and 18-oxidase (CMO ...

Background: Serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is an important analyte for the clinical assessment of disorders of sex development. It is also reportedly a difficult analyte to measure. Currently there are significant gaps in the standardisation of this analyte, including no external quality assurance (EQA) program available worldwide to allow for peer performance review of DHT.Objective and hypotheses: We therefore proposed to establish an EQA program for ...

Background: Male preterm infants are at increased risk of neonatal mortality when compared to their female counterparts. The mechanisms explaining this male disadvantage are not fully elucidated yet.Objective and hypotheses: To compare glucocorticoid metabolite excretion in urine obtained at day 10 between male and female infants born with a very low birth weight (VLBW; i.e. <1500 g). We hypothesized that male preterm infants have impaired adrenocort...

Background: Type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism (PHA1) is a rare syndrome characterized by unresponsiveness to aldosterone. Diagnosis is established by high levels of aldosterone and plasma renin activity, associated with findings of hypoaldosteronism (hyponatremia, hyperkalemia and metabolic acidosis). When the inheritance pattern is autosomal recessive it expresses as a severe systemic disease and the mortality rate is high, especially in the neonatal period....

Introduction: Somatropin has been the standard treatment for Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) since 1985. Nowadays, has been approved for the treatment of other diseases, as: Small for gestational age (SGA), Turner syndrome (TS) and Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).Aims: Assess the efficacy of somatropin in children followed in a tertiary Hospital, at 12 and 24 months of treatment, and to compare the results based on the patie...

Introduction: The presence of ZnT8 (zinc transporter 8) has been described on the surface of beta pancreatic cells in type 1 diabetic patients and the ZnT8 Ab (zinc transporter-8 autoantibody) has been recently established as a new marker of this autoimmune disease. There are studies demonstrating that ZnT8 may be of importance in some other endocrine cell types. In our study we wanted to verify the presence of ZnT8 in thyroid cells of children and adolescents...