ESPE Abstracts

Background and Aims: Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are essential nutrients for the development of the fetus and are supplied by the mother through the placenta. Omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) and both omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docoshexaenoic acid (DHA) stand out for their functional roles. Recent studies show that the concentrations of these fatty acids in maternal blood and umbilical cord are associated with adiposity in the of...

Introduction: Thyroid hormones regulate body composition and metabolism, and are among the key drivers of body growth and maturation. In children, associations of cardio-metabolic measures with the circulating prohormone thyroxine (T4) have been extensively studied, but not with active triiodothyronine (T3). In apparently healthy children, we studied whether circulating free T3 (fT3) [and its ratio with free T4 (fT3/fT4)] associates with cardio-metabolic measu...

Background and aims: Studies in adults and experimental animals suggest an inverse and bidirectional relationship between cognitive abilities and obesity. Clinical studies on cognition and obesity in children are scarce and methodologically heterogeneous. Indeed, various factors related to obesity including diet, physical activity, socioeconomic status and maternal obesity can affect neuropsychological development. We aimed to study the cognitive function in s...

Introduction and objectives: Imprinted genes have been broadly related to prenatal growth regulation. PEG10 is a maternally imprinted gene involved in cellular proliferation that is mainly expressed in the placenta and in some adult tissues. In mice, mutations in this gene have been related to growth restriction of both the embryo and the placenta. Nevertheless, its role in postnatal growth has not yet been established. We aimed to study prospectively the rela...

Background and Objectives: Offspring born to obese mothers are at an increased risk of chronic disease including type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). This metabolic programming is produced, in part, by epigenetic changes such us DNA methylation. We postulated that obesity exposure impacts the offspring's methylome and used an epigenomic approa...

In children with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH), excess circulating fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) causes hypophosphatemia with consequent rickets, skeletal deformities, and impairments in growth and mobility. Compared to continuation with conventional therapy (oral phosphate and active vitamin D [Pi/D]), switching to treatment with burosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody against FGF23, showed significantly greater improvement in phosphate homeostasis, rickets sever...

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: Low serum bilirubin and high serum triglycerides are independently associated with higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Both bilirubin and triglycerides can regulate insulin secretion and glucose uptake. This is a first longitudinal study in healthy children to associate bilirubin and the bilirubin/triglycerides ratio with metabolic markers.Objectives: Analyze independent associations between bilirub...

In children with XLH, high circulating levels of FGF23 cause hypophosphatemia with consequent rickets, skeletal deformities, and growth impairment. Conventional therapy consists of multiple daily doses of oral phosphate and active vitamin D (Pi/D). Burosumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody against FGF23 indicated for the treatment of XLH. In the active-control study CL301 (NCT02915705), 61 children with XLH (1–12 years old) were randomized (1:1) to receive subcutaneo...