ESPE Abstracts

Background: Poor linear growth is still one of the main concerns in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). An impairment of linear growth, adversely affecting final height, has been related both to overtreatment with glucocorticoid replacement therapy and to poor control of adrenal androgen levels.Objective and hypotheses: To define factors that influence linear growth and final height in patients with classical CAH.Me...

Background: The prevalence of dysglycaemia is high among overweight children and adolescents. Current screening criteria with fasting laboratory values have low sensitivity to detect IGT. Fasting triglycerides (TG) >1.17 mmol/l has been proposed as a criterion for screening obese children and adolescents at risk for IGT.Aims and objectives: We aimed to compare the performance of different screening criteria for detecting IGT in obese and overweight c...

Background: Response to GH treatment has been associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the promoter region of growth-related genes including GRB10 (rs1024531 (A/G, allele A increased response)), IGFBP3 (rs3110697 (G/A, G increased response)), CYP19A1 (rs10459592 (T/C, T increased response)) and SOS1 (rs2888586 (G/C, C increased response)). SOS1 is a positive regulator of GH signalling (MAPK pathway); the aromatase CYP19A1 promotes oestrogen synthesis to im...

Background: Obese adults with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) but 1-h post load glucose (1 hPG)≧155 mg/dl have an increased cardiometabolic risk. In children, preliminary data suggest that 1hPG≧132.5 mg/dl might identify those at higher risk of type 2 diabetes.Objective and hypotheses: To assess whether NGT obese youth with 1hPG ≧132.5 mg/dl (High-NGT) have worse insulin sensitivity and secretion compared to obese youth with 1hPG &#60...

Background: Noonan syndrome (NS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by specific features including short stature, distinctive facial dysmorphic features, congenital heart defects, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, skeletal anomalies and webbing of the neck. Molecular screening has shown that the majority of individuals with NS have a mutation in the PTPN11 gene. Noonan syndrome children may show an impaired GH/IGF axis. Moreover, recombinant human GH (rhGH) has been sh...

Introduction: Transient congenital hypothyroidism (TCH) refers to a temporary deficiency of thyroid hormone identified after birth, with low thyroxine (T4) and elevated thyrotropin (TSH). Approximately 17%-40% of children diagnosed with CH by newborn screening (NBS), have transient hypothyroidism. Levo-thyroxine (L-T4) early treatment is recommended at the dose 10-15 µg/kg/day. Children with thyroid gland in situ should be re-evaluated after the ...

Background: Birth weight (BW) is associated with the development of obesity, insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes in adulthood. The results of studies on the correlation between BW and the severity of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) among obese children are contradictory. The objective of our study was to evaluate the association between birth weight and the presence of CVRF in genetically homogeneous group of obese children and adolescents.</...

Background: Monitoring adherence to growth hormone (GH) treatment is important, because poor adherence can lead to suboptimal clinical outcomes. The easypod™ electromechanical injection device in combination with the web-based easypod™ connect platform electronically records and transmits accurate, objective records of the date, time and dose injected of patients receiving GH with growth disorders, allowing physicians to accurately monitor patients&#...

Background: The diagnosis of GHD in children is based on auxological, biochemical, neuro-radiological, and genetic tests. Biochemical tests include evaluation of stimulated GH secretion and baseline IGF-1 determination. Although IGF-1 is the most reliable indicator of GH action, its value should always be interpreted in conjunction with other clinical and biochemical parameters. Since IGF-1 has good specificity (about 90%), but low sensitivity (about 70%), nor...

Background: Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) is an amino acid peptide produced under the effect of Growth Hormone (GH), mostly secreted by the liver, which stimulates bone growth. IGF-1 levels have high specificity and low sensitivity for the diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD). Higher IGF-1 levels are classically associated with a better response to growth hormone therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between serum IGF...