ESPE Abstracts

Backgound: Alopecia areata (AA) or Alopecia Totalis (AT) is an autoimmune disease directed at the hair follicle, either limited to patchy hair loss over the scalp (focalis), or as total loss of scalp hair (totalis) or as total loss of both scalp and body hair (universalis). Management can be challenging, and despite multiple treatment modalities, no therapy still stands. While localized AA may respond well to topical corticosteroids, many patients require more aggressive secon...

Background: Hormonal replacement in boys with congenital HH remains a challenge. Micropenis has been traditionally successfully treated with 3 monthly injections of testosterone enanthate before the age of 2, but when bilateral cryptorchidism coincides, surgery is required. But even after a successful surgery, the hypoplastic testes with the deficient proliferation of immature Sertoli cells, due mainly to the lack of the male mini-puberty in the neonatal period as well as the ...

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder worldwide. Evidence suggests dysfunction of the fronto-subcortical pathways and the dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems, as well as dysregulation of the stress system, i.e., the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).Objective and hypotheses: The aim of the study was to examine i) the diurn...

Background: Adrenal incidentalomas(AIs) are adrenal masses discovered occasionally by radiological evaluation in the absence of clinical features of adrenal disease. Clinical evaluation is important in patients with AIs. AIs are bilateral (10–15%); manifest as nonfunctioning cortical adenomas (70–80%), pheochromocytomas (1.1–11%), subclinical Cushing syndrome (5–20%), primary aldosteronism (1–2%), primary adrenocortical carcinomas (<5%) and metasta...

Background: In premature adrenarche (PA) children bone age (BA) may be greater than chronological age (CA), however final height is usually within target height (TH).Objective and hypotheses: Aim of the study was to evaluate the evolution of BA in girls with PA.Method: We studied retrospectively the files of 60 girls with PA followed in our unit. Anthropometric data and Tanner pubertal status were determined in each visit and BA wa...

Background: It has already been documented that selenium treatment has beneficial effects in adult patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, especially in those with a higher titer of antibodies and increased inflammatory disease activity.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate whether daily supplementation of organic selenium at a high dose (200 μg in the form of L-selenomethionine) has any effect on the titer of thyroid autoantibodies.<p class="a...

Background: A number of studies have previously described seasonality of birth in children with type 1 diabetes, thus suggesting that the autoimmune process may begin during fetal development. However, there is a lack of data regarding autoimmune thyroid disease in childhood.Objective and hypotheses: The aim of this study was to analyse the seasonal birth month pattern in young patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis and compare it with that of youth healthy...

Background: A positive association between osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has been recently reported. Additionally, there is evidence that OPG in obese adults participates in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases by promoting inflammation, which is known to be linked to insulin resistance (IR). There is few data regarding the relationship among obesity-IR-OPG, in youth.Objective and hypot...

Background: Childhood obesity predisposes to metabolic disorders. Low grade inflammation of adipose tissue (AT) associated with macrophage infiltration may lead to metabolic complications. Two macrophage activation states M1 (pro-inflammatory) and M2 (anti-inflammatory) exist in AT with surface markers CD40 (M1), CD206 (M2) and CD163 (M2). M1 polarization correlates with metabolic complications.Objective and hypotheses: To study the expression of CD40, C...

Background: Morbid childhood obesity predisposes to metabolic disorders such as diabetes type 2. In mice, heat-producing ‘brown-like’ (beige) adipocytes can suppress weight gain and metabolic disease through the action of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) localized in the mitochondria.Objective and hypotheses: To study the expression of UCP1 in the adipose tissue of lean&obese children and adolescents.Method: Paraffin embed...