ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Inactivity in children is associated with cardiometabolic risk, while physical activity improves cardiometabolic health. We aimed to determine the association between epicardial fat (Efat), interventricular septal and left ventricular posterior wall thicknesses (IVSthickness and LVPWthickness) with physical activity/inactivity, non-sedentary/sedentary behavior, body composition, and cardio-metabolic parameters in children classified as being: ina...

Background: Accelerated catch-up growth following intrauterine growth restriction increases the risk of developing visceral adiposity and metabolic syndrome. Animal models of growth restriction during gestation have been developed as a powerful tool to provide insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms thereof.Objective: To analyze the patterns of gene expression in the retroperitoneal adipose tissue of rats with i...

Background: Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) is a well-known marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. The distribution of adipose tissue among visceral fat reservoirs rather than the total adipose tissue mass is more likely to be related to subclinical atherosclerosis.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether epicardial and perirenal fat are more related to cIMT than body adiposity in prepubertal child...

Background: Gestational obesity has not only adverse effects on the mothers’ health but also on the developing fetus. Newborns of obese pregnant women have increased birth weight and increased risk for obesity and associated diseases in adulthood. The mechanisms by which maternal nutrition induce these changes in the offspring may involve microRNAs (miRNAs) regulation.Aims and objectives: To study the associations between circulating miRNAs altered ...

Background: miRNAs are valuable circulating biomarkers and therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases. A differential pattern of miRNAs has been described in pregnant women with preeclampsia or gestational diabetes; however, it is unknown whether maternal obesity affects the profile of circulating miRNAs.Aims and objectives: To define the circulating pattern of miRNAs in pregestational and gestational obesity; and to explore their associations with mater...

Background: Soluble CD163 (sCD163) is shed from the cell surface into the circulation as a specific marker of macrophage activation. Macrophages are involved in low-grade inflammatory states such as obesity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the relationships between circulating sCD163 and metabolic parameters in asymptomatic prepubertal children.Method: A population of 236 school-aged Caucasian children (111 girls and 125 bo...

Introduction: Imprinted genes are critical for placental function and normal fetal growth and development. Very little is known about the impact of maternal obesity on imprinted genes and their role in postnatal growth and metabolism.Objectives: 1) To identify umbilical cord DNA methylation sites (CpG) associated with gestational weight gain (GWG); 2) to identify which of these CpGs lie within imprinting control regions ...

Introduction: Children with Prader-Willi syndrome present with short stature and obesity. However, very little is known about the role of this imprinted control region in the general population. This study aims to analyze the methylation status of the PWS imprinting control region (ICR) in placenta and its association with postnatal growth and obesity parameters in healthy children.Methodology: The methylation percentages of the PWS-ICR ...

Background and Aim: IRS1 (Insulin Receptor Substrate 1) is involved in the insulin signalling pathway and abnormalities thereof have been related to metabolic disorders and obesity. In obese subjects, insulin resistance has been associated with changes in IRS1 expression in peripheral in blood. Sex-based differences in cardiovascular disease are well established. Previous results from our group disclosed the association between IRS1 placental methylation with ...

Introduction and aims: MEST (Mesoderm-specific transcript), a candidate gene for Silver-Russell syndrome, is a paternally expressed imprinted gene that positively regulates foetal growth. MEST has also been shown to promote adipose tissue expansion in conditions of positive energy balance. In this context, our objective was to study the possible relationship between placental MEST gene expression and postnatal growth and obesity para...