ESPE Abstracts

Background: Oligo-ovulatory androgen excess in women (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by NIH definition) is a major cause of subfertility and relates to hepatic steatosis, independently of obesity.Objective: To test whether early treatment of PCOS affects subsequent ovulation rate.Method: Adolescent girls with hyperinsulinemic androgen excess – a subgroup of PCOS – (mean age 16 year; BMI 23.7 kg/m2) randomly r...

Background: Beckwith–Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) is a clinical and genetically heterogeneous entity encompassing overgrowth and variable manifestations. Early diagnosis of BWS is crucial due to the increased risk for developing embryonal malignancies (mainly below 5 years of age).Objective: We aimed to screen the presence of underdiagnosed BWS among ‘non-syndromic’ obese children.Method: We studied 159 children (95 male...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PA) in pediatric and young patients comprise a rare pathology of unknown prevalence. The majority are sporadic, but 5% occur in a familial setting, either as isolated (FIPA) or as part of a syndrome. The identification of genetic alterations has broaden the scope of molecular investigations. We describe the clinical characteristics of patients with sporadic PA arising before the age of 35 years and perform thorough genetic scr...

Background: The central melanocortin system is highly involved in the control of energy metabolism, receiving and integrating numerous metabolic signals, such as leptin, and biallelic mutations in several genes of the pathway have been reported in severe obesity. However, whether and how heterozygous rare sequence variants (hetRSVs) in genes of this satiety pathway contribute to the development of obesity is poorly explored.Objec...

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), often caused by a single adenoma (80%–85%) or hyperplasia or adenomas involving multiple glands, is the major cause of hypercalcemia. PHPT is common and occurs in individuals of all ages, but its prevalence is lower in young adults. Parathyroid tumors and PHPT can be caused by germline (hereditary PHPT) or somatic mutations of tumor suppressor genes (e.g., multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and CDC73) and...

Background: Obesity is characterised by excessive fat accumulation coursing with a chronic mild inflammatory state, with adipose tissue (AT) being the main site of increased systemic cytokine production. Increased adiposity early in life is the main risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders later in life, with the abnormal accumulation of lipids in AT leading to the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Inflammatory process that involves metabolic and card...

Background: Over the last decade, and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a substantial increase in the use of digital health tools to track growth and manage growth disorders in children. Paediatric endocrinologists acknowledge the usefulness of these tools in clinical decision making but lack confidence and skills to use them. Atique et al. designed a Massive Open Online Learning Course (MOOC) to increase digital health literacy, and identified...

Introduction: Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder caused by the lack of expression of genes on the paternally inherited chromosome 15q11.2-q13 region. Clinical picture of PWS changes across life stages. PWS is characterized by endocrine abnormalities, such as growth hormone (GH) deficiency, obesity, central adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, hypogonadism, and complex behavioural and intellectual difficulties. The recombinant human growt...

Background: Expression of SHOX, a transcription factor implicated in skeletal development, is regulated by the interaction of two promoters, weak, P1 (exon 1) and strong, P2 (exon 2), with at least, seven enhancers. SHOX haploinsufficiency, due to mutations in SHOX or its enhancers, explains ~70% of Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) and ~2.5% idiopathic short stature (ISS) cases whilst the underlying molecular mechanism in the remaining is unknown.<p...

Background: SHOX, located on the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1), encodes a transcriptional factor implicated in human skeletal growth. Alterations in SHOX or its regulatory elements are observed in ~70% of patients with Leri–Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD), in ~90% with Langer mesomelic dysplasia (LMD) and ~2.5% of patients with idiopathic short stature (ISS). SHOX deletions/duplications are a frequent alteration, with the majority encompassing the entire gene.<p class...