ESPE Abstracts

Objectives and Study: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) regulates fetal and infant growth and is influenced by nutrition during infancy. Breast fed children have lower IGF-I levels than formula fed infants and the reason is partly explained by lower levels of protein and higher level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in breast milk compared to formula. Environmental factors, such as nutrition, have long-lasting influences on hormone secretion and on future metabolic hea...

Background: Exercise programs are related to the anabolic function of GH/IGF-I axis.Objective and hypotheses: To analyse IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and ALS serum concentrations in adolescent swimmers at different stages of training season, and compare them with physical performance and body composition.Method: Nine male athletes, aged 16–19 years, who trained regularly throughout the season, were studied. IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and ALS were recor...

GHD is the most common endocrine disorder in children with short stature (~1 in 4000). Appropriate diagnosis should synthesize auxological, biochemical and neuroradiological data. However, until now there are significant controversies, especially from the laboratory interpretation. A false positive diagnosis can lead to a significant wasted expenditure and unnecessary exposure to rare potential adverse effects. Given these open issues about biochemical diagnosis of GHD in chil...

Background: Children’s exposure to stress predicts poor health. Poor growth and maturation are recognized indicators of poor health.Objective and hypotheses: SE correlates with height, BMI and menarche. We correlated seven indicators of SE with countries’ average adult height, BMI and menarche age.Method: Data for 57 countries of average men and women’s height, BMI and menarche age were collected from WHO report. The...

Background: Sexual maturation is closely linked to growth, suggesting common pathways between the reproductive development and the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-I (GH/IGF-I) axis. IGF-I bioavailability is regulated by Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), Pregnancy associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) and Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2). A large genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified PAPP-A, PAPP-A2 and STC2 to represent loci strongly a...

Background: The GH-IGF system plays an important role in strength gain. Some studies suggest that Zinc, Magnesium and Pyridoxine (ZMA) supplementation could increase GH/IGF and testosterone levels in young subjects. This hypothetical increase could lead to significant changes in body composition. ZMA is a very popular supplement, easily found in specialty stores, and it is presumed to increase GH, IGF-I and testosterone levels. However, studies are divergent regarding its effi...

Background: Pappalysins (PAPP-A, PAPP-A2) and stanniocalcins (STC-1, STC-2) are novel regulators of the GH-IGF axis, modulating IGF bioavailability through control of cleavage of IGFBPs and release of IGF from the ternary complex. Changes in the peripheral IGF system, including low IGF concentrations independently of GH secretion, have been reported in scenarios of malnutrition such as anorexia nervosa (AN). The role of pappalysins and stanniocalcins in the pa...

We present the case of a now 11 years old girl with the ultra-rare severe insulin resistance Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome due to the previously undescribed compound heterozygous mutations exon 16: c.2986A>G (Paternal) and intron 9: c.2029+1G>T (maternal) of the insulin receptor gene. The phenotypic findings were composed of dystrophy (birth weight 1970g, small for gestational age), hyperglycemia (up to 400mg/dl), severe acanthosis nigricans and mild cardiac septal hyperpla...

Background: Various aspects of IGF1R defects have been analysed to date, but the effects of IGF1R haploinsufficiency bone status and metabolism were rarely investigated.Objective and hypotheses: To study bone metabolism and structure in a case of Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptor (IGF1R) gene deletion.Method: Genetic analysis, GH stimulation, rhGH treatme...

Background: Donohue syndrome (DS) is caused by autosomal-recessive loss of function mutations of the insulin receptor gene. DS is associated with diabetes mellitus unresponsive to conventional insulin therapy due to severe insulin resistance. Patients exhibit IUGR and postnatal failure to thrive. They develop a characteristic facies, hypertrichosis and acanthosis nigricans. Most patients die within the first two years of life because of respiratory infections. To date, no caus...