ESPE Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common cause of hirsutism and menstrual irregularity in adolescent girls and young women. It is often accompanied by obesity and insulin resistance and is associated to lifelong co-morbidities, including subfertility, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, pre-menopausal cancer, depression, low health-related Qol, and pregnancy and offspring complications. PCOS in adolescent girls is commonly driven by fat excess in subcutaneo...

Introduction: Adolescent polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by androgen excess and oligo-amenorrhea, and often results from ectopic lipid storage due to a mismatch between early adipogenesis and later lipogenesis. Endogenous HOTAIR and exogenous pioglitazone are enhancers of subcutaneous adipogenesis, particularly in the gluteofemoral region. The A allele of HOTAIR rs1443512 is an equivalent of a natural knock-down and is thus a candidate to inf...

Insulin resistance and hepato-visceral (central) fat excess are thought to contribute to an earlier timing of adrenarche/pubarche and puberty/menarche; this earlier timing in turn relates often to a mismatch between pre- and postnatal weight gain, which can be estimated by calculating the Z-score change from birth weight (BW) to body mass index (BMI) in childhood. We tested the hypothesis that this calculation may serve as a proxy of insulin resistance and hepato-visceral adip...

GLI2 is a downstream transcription factor in Sonic Hedgehog signaling, acting early in ventral forebrain and pituitary development. Heterozygous GLI2 mutations have been reported in patients with isolated or combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD).Objective: Study of genetic etiology of the hypopituitarism and identification of the genetic alteration in GLI2 gene.Methodology: Molecular study: Search for varia...

Background: Digital health solutions, such as the Growzen™ buddy smartphone application (app), can facilitate adherence to recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) treatment for patients with growth disorders. The app alerts patients when it’s time for an injection and allows patients and their caregivers to self-monitor growth, to build a routine and improve adherence. The app also contains educational resources to empower patients to be active in...

The gut microbiome has recently emerged as a major contributor to obesity and metabolic disease. Specifically, Bifidobacterium animalis sups. lactis (BAL) has shown promise for obesity treatment in human subjects, improving body composition and metabolic health. Moreover, tryptophan metabolism, a crucial regulator of satiety mechanisms and anxiety, is a main target of BAL. Given that clinical manifestations of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) include hyperphagia, ...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent disorder in adolescent girls, commonly driven by hepato-visceral fat excess, usually presenting with hirsutism and menstrual irregularity, and often followed by subfertility and type 2 diabetes.We studied the miRNA profile of adolescent girls with PCOS, and the effects of randomized treatment with an oral contraceptive (OC) or with spironolactone-pioglitazone-metformin (SPIOMET, aiming at loss of hepato-vis...

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare, hereditary bone dysplasia with a broad clinical spectrum that includes skeletal and extra-skeletal manifestations. It is genetically heterogeneous and there are multiple described mutations that explain the clinical variability of this entity and make it difficult to establish a genotype-phenotype correlation.Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and genetic characteristics of the patient with OI.</...

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous rare disorder characterized by variable symptoms including predisposition to fractures. OI has been associated with mutations affecting the synthesis of type I collagen. However, the new technologies have permitted the identification of other responsible genes which are in the collagen metabolic pathway, while others are not.Objective: Characterize the genotype of pati...

Background: Progranulin (PGRN) displays pleiotropic biological functions including on early embryogenesis, cell proliferation, lysosomal or neuronal functioning and wound repair, and has been proposed as a biomarker for metabolic diseases. Increased PGRN levels have been reported in type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and in preeclampsia associated to placental dysfunction. However, the ontogeny of PGRN concentrations and the potential value of P...