ESPE Abstracts

Background: During the last years, it has been sporadically reported that Graves’ disease (GD) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) may follow one another in the same individuals, due to a sequential phenotypic conversion from GD to HT or vice versa.Objective and hypotheses: To shed further light on the specific relationships between Down syndrome (DS) and metamorphic thyroid autoimmunity.Method: We have reconstructed the con...

Introduction: Endocan is a soluble dermatan sulfate PG (50kDa), composed by 165 amino acid core protein, that is expressed and secreted by endothelial cells of dermal microvasculature, coronary, pulmonary arteries, and capillaries from adipose tissue. It plays an important role in the pathogenesis of vascular disorders, inflammation, and neoangiogenesis. Endocan biosynthesis is upregulated by inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α,IL-1, TGF-β1, and by pro...

Background: The social consequences of COVID-19 pandemic are universally known. In particular, the pediatric population is dealing with a radical lifestyle change. For some risk categories, such as overweight and obese children, the impact of home confinement has been greater than for others. Not only have the increased sedentary life, the wrong diet and social distancing stopped the chance of losing weight, but also worsened the general life conditions.<p...

Background: “Carney complex” is an autosomal dominant inheritance extremely rare genetic syndrome, usually determined by PRKAR1A (17q22-24) gene mutations. The clinical picture is characterized by speckled skin pigmentation; cardiac, cutaneous and mammary myxomas; schwannomas; endocrinopathies (acromegaly, Cushing syndrome due to primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease) and tumors of the endocrine glands.Case...

Introduction: Familial male-limited precocious puberty (or testotoxicosis) is a very rare genetic disorder with autosomal dominant transmission that causes gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty due to mutations activating the lutropin-chorionic gonadotropin receptor (LHCGR), which lead to elevated testosterone levels and suppressed gonadotropins. The age of onset is between 2-5 years essentially with penis and testes enlargement, linear growth accelerati...

Introduction: Chronic urticaria (CU) affects about 0.3% of pediatric subjects worldwide. Most cases have not identifiable triggers and are classified as chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Etiopathogenesis is complex and the role of thyroid diseases has been widely studied. Indeed, subjects with CSU are held to often have autoimmune disorders, including autoimmune thyroid diseases. This study aims to analyze the possible association of thyroid autoimmunity in...

Background: Recent studies suggest that osteocalcin (OC) promotes glucose and lipid metabolism via ACAM, integrin αVβ3, GLUT1 and GLUT8 expression, directly affecting adipocytes. OC represents a link between bone and glucose metabolism; it stimulates insulin and stimulates pancreatic β-cells proliferation through Gprc6a receptor. Low levels of OC were observed in adult patients with Type 2 DM suggesting an association with glucose into...

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia in pediatric age. It affects 20.1% of children aged 0-4 years old and 5.9% of children aged 5-14 years old in the Western World with profound implications for the growth. Dietary changes and iron supplementation may be crucial. This study aims to assess the correlation between growth and iron deficiency in children and the effects of ferrous iron treatment on the auxological parameters....

Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a rare overgrowth disorder characterised by macroglossia, exomphalos, lateralised overgrowth, organomegaly, hyperinsulinism, and an increased risk of embryonic tumor during early life. In about 80% of BWS cases, molecular defects are identified at the imprinted 11p15.5 region which contains the IGF2 and the CDKN1C genes (most patients show methylation defects at either imprinting control region IC1 or IC2, or paternal unip...

Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy syndrome (APECED, OMIM240300) is a rare monogenic disease due to biallelic mutations in the Autoimmune Regulator (AIRE) gene. This encodes for a thymus-enriched transcription factor responsible for central immune tolerance. Classic diagnostic criteria are the presence of two of main symptoms of chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), hypoparathyroidism (HP) and Addison’s disease (AD). Non-endocrine autoimmun...