ESPE Abstracts

Background: Individuals with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) have an increased risk for developing a germ cell cancer (GCC). The risk is low during childhood; therefore, gonads are commonly preserved until after puberty. Little is known about GCC development in AIS during adulthood. This question is particularly relevant as many adult AIS women decline gonadectomy.Objective and hypotheses: To gain insight in attitudes towards gonadectomy in various...

Background: In 1968 a cytogenetics laboratory was established at the University Hospital, Reykjavik and has since then served as the only chromosomal laboratory for all hospitals and physicians in Iceland. Our current aim was to study the physical features, congenital anomalies and various clinical outcomes in Icelandic females, diagnosed with Turner syndrome (TS) for the period of 1968–2012.Method: Data was obtained from hospital records, from all ...

Background: Pubertal gynaecomastia is thought to be a clinical sign of an oestrogen-androgen imbalance, affecting up to 60% of boys. In most cases no underlying endocrinopathy can be identified. In boys, Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by immature Sertoli cells and circulating level decreases as testosterone increases during pubertal maturation. In a previous cross sectional study we found significant lower levels of AMH in boys with pubertal gynaecomastia (Mieri...

Several studies have evaluated the effects of growth hormone (GH) on auxological and biochemical parameters in children with non-GH-deficient, idiopathic short stature (ISS). This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of GrowtropinR-II (recombinant human GH) in Korean patients with ISS. This was a 1-year, open-label, multicenter, phase III randomized trial of Growtropin-II in Korean patients with ISS. In total, 70 prepubertal subjects (39 males, 31 females) betwee...

Background: Genetic causes of central precocious puberty (CPP) has been increasingly recognized, extending our knowledge of the triggering factors of human pubertal timing. Distinct etiologies remain to be elucidated in sporadic and familial cases. Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) is a chromatin-associated protein that can activate or repress gene transcription, playing a role in neuronal maturation. It is encoded by MECP2 gene located at chromoso...

Background: GL1I2 encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor expressed in the developing hypothalamus and in Rathke's pouch, the embryonic precursor of the pituitary gland. Pathogenic GL1I2 variants have been implicated in the etiology of the broad clinical spectrum of congenital hypopituitarism (CHY): holoprosencephaly, midline facial abnormalities, Culler-Jones syndrome, combined pituitary hormone-deficiency (CPHD) and isolated GH-defi...

Background: Most published studies on 46,XY DSD focused on genetic findings without association with biochemical work-up.Objectives: To retrospectively analyze the clinical and genetic findings of a large cohort of 46,XY DSD patients.Methods: 285 non-syndromic 46,XY DSD individuals (192 sporadic and 89 familial cases) were studied. LH, FSH, testosterone (T), androstenedione (A) wer...

Background: Leydig Cell Hypoplasia (LCH) is a very rare autosomal recessive condition that is manifested by a wide spectrum of phenotypes, ranging from completely female external genitalia to male genitalia. Long-term outcome in these patients is unclear.Objectives: To assess sex assignment, clinical characteristics and long-term outcome of 46,XY LCH cases.Patients and Methods: Thr...

Background: 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis (GD) is a spectrum disorder which lead to variable degrees of atypical external genitalia, ranging from female to micropenis and absent of gonadal tissue (known as Embryonic Testicular Regression Syndrome -ETRS). Most patients with 46,XY GD remains without a molecular diagnosis.Objective: To report the DEAH-box helicase 37 gene (DHX37) as a novel candidate for the GD etiology.Patients a...

Stress is increasingly associated with cardiac disease. Glucocorticoids are primary stress hormones that regulate homeostasis through two nuclear receptors, the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). Cardiomyocytes express both receptors but little is known concerning their specific and coordinated actions in heart physiology and pathology. To examine the in vivo function of glucocorticoid signaling in the heart, we generated mice with cardi...