ESPE Abstracts

Background: Insulin resistance precedes metabolic syndrome abnormalities, and may promote cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in obese children. Lifestyle modification programs have been proposed as the gold standard of care in these individuals. However, results have been discouraging and the use of adjuvant strategies has been necessary. Metformin has beneficial effects on weight reduction, favoring a decrease in body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance in obese n...

Background: Aromatase deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder produced by CYP19 gene mutations. 46XX affected patients presented with ambiguous genitalia leading to early identification. Most 46XY affected patients presented normal external genitalia and the condition often remains undiagnosed until late puberty. Information on pubertal development in affected boys is scarce since to the present date only two patients, younger than 4 years of age, without lo...

Background: During the 1st months of postnatal life serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in girls are lower than in boys. The mechanism of this sex difference is not known. It has been proposed that foetal or perinatal androgenic steroids have an effect on the control of LH secretion.Objective and hypotheses: To study the possible influence of high levels of androgens on serum gonadotropins during the 1st months of life in a cohort of nine 46,XX testicu...

Background: Humanin is a novel signaling peptide which has been showed, by in vitro and in vivo studies, to improve insulin sensitivity. As plasma humanin levels decrease during adulthood, particularly during aging, it has been proposed that the increment of insulin resistance in aging might be associated with lesser humanin plasma values.Objective and hypotheses: The physiological insulin resistance observed during puberty in normal ch...

Background: Congenital growth hormone deficiency may be isolated (IGHD) or multiple pituitary hormone deficiency (MPHD). The Sonic Hedgehog signalling (SHH) pathway has an important role in the pituitary development and growth, acting early in ventral forebrain. The SHH signalling mediates its effects through three zinc fingers proteins (Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3), which lead to activation or repression of target genes. Several heterozygous GLI2 mutations have been reported in patie...

Objective: To enhance the understanding of the clinical phenotypes of patients with SOX2 gene mutations.Method: A retrospectively analysis of the clinical manifestations and the laboratory results of a child diagnosed as idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism(IHH) by whole exome-gene sequencing and a review of relevant literatures.Results: A 12-year-old boy clinically manifested short stature, mental retardation, a histo...

Introduction and aim: Parental health is associated with children’s health and lifestyles. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess lifestyle behaviours of children from parents with insulin resistance (IR) and at risk of type 2 diabetes.Methods: 2117 European parents from six countries included in the Feel4Diabetes-study measured in 2015 and identified as being at risk for diabetes with the FINDRISC questio...

Introduction: Genetic alterations within the cAMP/PKA pathway, including the genes GNAS, PDE11A, PDE8, PRKAR1A/B, and PRKACA, result in a spectrum of adrenocortical disorders. To date, somatic PRKACA variants and germline PRKACA copy number gain have been associated with the development of cortisol-secreting adrenocortical adenomas and bilateral adrenal hyperplasia, respectively. While variants within the PRKAR1A ge...

Deficiency of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2), a protease that regulates IGF-1 availability, causes postnatal growth failure and changes in bone size and density in humans and mice. The present study aimed to determine the effects of daily administration (from PND5 to PND35) of recombinant murine (rm) PAPP-A2, in comparison to rmGH and rmIGF1, on mouse auxology and bone microarchitecture in homozygous Pappa2 knock-out (ko/ko) mice of both sexes. Hormone treatm...

The growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) system is essential for optimal human growth and energy homeostasis. Deficiency of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2), a protease involved in the liberation of free IGF-1, leads to problems in growth and bone density in humans and mice. Patients with PAPP-A2 deficiency also present lower body mass and mild glucose intolerance. The present study aimed to determine the influence of 1 month of high carbohydr...