ESPE Abstracts

Background: Achondroplasia (ACH), the most common short-limbed skeletal dysplasia, is characterized by impaired endochondral ossification resulting from gain-of-function pathogenic variants in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene, a negative regulator of endochondral bone growth. People with ACH are at risk for several significant co-morbidities, including brainstem compression due to foramen magnum stenosis, sleep-disordered breathing, chronic...

Background: Children living with paediatric endocrine conditions in resource-poor countries experience inequitable rates of preventable mortality and morbidity. Reducing preventable mortality will help member states committed to delivering on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 3.2.1, 3.2.2 and 3.4. CLAN (Caring & Living As Neighbours) has been improving health outcomes for children living with CAH in resource poor countries since 2004,...

Anthropometrics is an important part of pediatrics and public health. Its non-invasiveness, simplicity and low cost makes anthropometry attractive for several purposes. It is a valuable method for the screening or assessment of growth disorders, as well as under- and over-nutrition. Furthermore, specific anthropometric measures can be used as indicators of general fitness or cardiovascular risk factors (insulin resistance and dyslipidemia) in (obese) children, as well as marke...

Background: Early life stress (ELS) are known to have a deleterious impact on health, but their potential long-term consequences on mortality remain to be assessed. World War 1 (WW1) has caused major stress and bereavement to millions of European mothers.Objectives and hypotheses: To compare the effects of a maternal stress occurring during intra uterine or in postnatal life upon long-term mortality.Patients: Thanks to recently dig...

Background: The growth and IGF1 responses to GH treatment show a large variation across children with idiopathic short stature (ISS). Compliance and GH regimens are important determinants. The d3 variant of the GH receptor (GHR) is a significant genetic predictor. The role of individual epigenetics had not been studied. The IGF1 locus is an attractive candidate where CG methylation could influence GH action.Objectives: To study GH effects on a) IGF1 gene...

Background: Graves’ disease (GD) involves autoimmunity against TSH receptor (TSHR) bearing cells, leading to hyperthyroidism and often orbitopathy. When hyperthyroidism is treated with radioactive iodine (RAI), exacerbation of the orbital disease can occur.Objective and hypotheses: We hypothesized that RAI has immune effects affecting the balance between auto-reactive T cells and T cells with regulatory properties.Method: We m...

Background: Preserving spermatogonial stem cell (SSCs) in Klinefelter syndrome (KS) adolescents by testicular tissue banking to safeguard their fertility potential is under debate. While diagnosis of KS is frequently made in late adolescence or young adulthood, when testicular fibrosis is already present, this strategy may be an option when associated with in vitro culture and maturation of SSC.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate the attitude ...

Background: The diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) involves the use of GH stimulation tests that require day case admission, multiple blood sampling and are associated with significant adverse effects.Aim: To assess the utility of gene expression (GE) profiling and candidate SNP analysis for the diagnosis of and classification of GHD.Method: Pre-pubertal treatment-naïve children with GHD (n=98) were enrolled from the...

Background: The height of children has a Gaussian distribution. Genetics explain an important part of individual variability, but no single genomic variant accounts for more than 0.3% of height variance. At the interface of genetics and environment, epigenetics is expected to contribute to phenotypic variability. IGF1 is an attractive locus to test this hypothesis.Objectives: To quantify the effect of CG methylation of IGF1 promoters on height.<p cla...

Background: TransCon hGH is a long-acting prodrug of recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) that releases fully active unmodified hGH into the blood compartment. This presentation will detail the final safety and efficacy results of TransCon hGH in a Phase 2 study in children with GHD over a treatment period of six months.Objective and hypotheses: The objective of this Phase 2 study in GHD was to investigate 1) safety and tolerability, 2) pharmacokinetic...