ESPE Abstracts

We present the case of a five-day female admitted to our Paediatric Unit due to TSH elevation (bTSH 303 mIU/L) on routine neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism (CH). The patient was born at 38 weeks’ gestation by c-section presenting with adequate auxological parameters. Her mother suffered from Hashimoto’s disease, already diagnosed before pregnancy, and requiring Levo-thyroxine therapy (L-T4). Blood tests performed at five days of life revealed the pre...

Background: Distal chromosome 16 duplication syndrome, also known as 16q partial trisomy, is a very rare genetic disorder. Smaller chromosomal copy number variants (CNVs) within the 16q region create partial trisomies, which occur less frequently than full trisomy 16q. Trisomy 16q is generally associated with a multisystemic phenotype including intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), brain and cardiac defects, intellectual disability and an increased risk of b...

Background: Epigenetic alterations due to maternal obesity may contribute to an increased metabolic risk in the offspring. IRS1 has a critical role in insulin signalling and its methylation has been previously associated with body fat distribution and glucose metabolism in human adipose tissue. The relationship between IRS1 methylation in birth tissues and obesity parameters in the offspring is unknown.Objective: To iden...

Introduction: Differential diagnosis of partial central diabetes insipidus (PCDI) and primary polydipsia (PP) can be challenging. Copeptin is the C-terminal segment of the vasopressin precursor peptide that represents a novel and stable biomarker. Arginine infusion produces a nonosmotic stimulus that causes an increase in copeptin concentrations in healthy subjects. Arginine-stimulated copeptin concentrations have been used to differentiate between patients wi...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PPAs) are uncommon in childhood and adolescence, accounting for 2-6% of all intracranial neoplasms. Most data are based on case reports and only a few series have been reported. Delayed puberty, short stature, galactorrhea and weight gain are common features at presentation in pediatric patients. Functional tumors constitute a vast majority (90%) of PPAs including corticotropinomas in the first decade followed by relative upsu...

Introduction: Both the innate and adaptive immune responses are deregulated in individuals with obesity and are a key driver of its associated metabolic alterations. Although the anti-inflammatory growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is a candidate protein against obesity, its mechanisms regulating the immune responses are not fully understood.Methods: We examined whether serum GDF-15 was related to serum levels of ...

Introduction: It is known that excessive gestational weight gain can cause an adverse intrauterine environment and increase the risk of cardio-metabolic diseases in the offspring. Epigenetics could be one of the mechanisms involved in this regulation.Objective: We aimed to study the DNA methylation profile of umbilical cord tissue that is associated with gestational weight gain (GWG), and its relationship with cardio-met...

Background and Aims: Gestational obesity can cause metabolic programming in the offspring. Epigenetic modifications of DNA have been suggested as potential mechanisms underlying this programming. FRAT-1 is a gene involved in the WNT signaling pathway, which is an important regulator of adipose tissue development. The objective of this work was to study the methylation status of FRAT-1 in placentas of women with either normal weight or gestati...

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: Congenital hypopituitarism is a heterogeneous disorder with isolated hormone deficiency(IPHD) or combined(CPHD). Main risk factors for CPHD include H-P abnormalities such agenesis corpus callosum(ACC), anterior pituitary hypoplasia(APH), ectopic posterior pituitary(EPP), pituitary stalk interruption(PSI), septo-optic dysplasia(SOD), and holoprosencephaly(HPE).Patients and Methods: Prospective and longitudin...