ESPE Abstracts

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: Congenital hypothyroidism, one of the most important preventable causes of mental retardation, is a clinical condition characterized by thyroid hormone deficiency in newborns.Objective and hypotheses: Congenital hypothyroidism is most often caused by defects in thyroid development leading to thyroid dysgenesis. TSH receptor (TSHR) is the main known gene causing thyroid dysgenesis in consanguineous families with congenital hypothyroidism. In t...

Objective: Although low birthweight (bw) and unfavourable intrauterine conditions have been associated with metabolic sequelae in later life, little is known about their impact on glucocorticoid metabolism. We studied monozygotic twins with intra-twin bw-differences from birth to adolescence to analyse the long-term impact of bw and catch-up growth on glucocorticoid metabolism.Methods: 46 monozygotic prepubertal twin-pai...

Introduction: Thyroid abnormalities such as subclinical or overt hypothyroidism are common in children with Down syndrome (DS) with ranges from 4% to 19.5%, whereas Graves´ disease (GD) is extremely rare (ranges 0.6%-0.9 %).Aims: To evaluate clinical features, course, and treatment of GD in children with DS.Patients and Methods: Among 161 children with GD, diagnosed between 1...

Introduction: Children with Graves' disease (GD) show a set of characteristic clinical symptoms but data describing the chief complaints that led to the initial presentation are rare.Aims: To evaluate the spectrum of complaints of children with GD at initial presentation.Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the medical records of 148 children with bioch...

Background: Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is associated with an increased metabolic and cardiovascular risk profile1,2 and a metabolic syndrome is evident at a prepubertal age in 10% of the affected boys. Boys with KS tend to avoid competitive sports and describe themselves as ‘not good at sports’. Cardiopulmonary fitness in adults with KS has been found to be compromised by chronotropic insufficiency (CI) and a reduced maximal oxygen uptake...

Bile acids (BA) are C24 steroids synthesized from cholesterol in liver. Originally, they were mainly considered to function as emulsifiers supporting resorption of lipophilic food compounds and excretion of metabolic products. Recently, their additional biological and endocrine functions in the regulation of metabolism have aroused interest of researchers. In contrast to BA in blood, it is surprising that hardly any data exist on BA in the most accessible human biof...

Background: P450 oxidoreductase (POR) mutations can present with disordered sexual development (46,XX virilisation as well as 46,XY under-masculinisation), perturbed steroidogenesis and mild to severe skeletal malformations. As POR is an obligate electron donating cofactor to many P450s, and as this interaction may vary from partner to partner, the phenotypic spectrum of PORD is extremely broad. Therefore, to characterize novel POR mutations, specific testing is required.<...