ESPE Abstracts

Abnormal DNA methylation contributes to tumor progression and is emerging as a prognostic marker in several types of cancers. To investigate whether DNA methylation is associated with pediatric adrenocortical tumor (pACT) presentation and patient prognosis, we analyzed the methylation profile of 57 tumors (MethylationEPIC BeadChip Array-Illumina) and patients’ clinicopathological features and outcome. The study comprehended 40 girls and 17 boys, with median age at diagnos...

Background: It is well known that growth hormone (GH) brings about several effects, involving bone, body composition, lipids and glucose homeostasis. However, the complex interplay between these parameters is rather poorly studied in children with childhood-onset-GH deficiency (CO-GHD).Objective and hypotheses: To investigate lipids, adipokines (leptin- adiponectin- resistin) and glucose homeostasis and their relationship with bone and body composition i...

Despite significant advances in the medical management of childhood diseases, glucocorticoids (GCs) continue to be the mainstay of therapy for numerous serious conditions, including hematological malignancies, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and inflammatory disorders. In order to understand the natural history of bone development in GC-treated children, a pan-Canadian longitudinal observational research study called "STOPP" (STeroid...

Catch-up growth (CUG) is characterized by a period of supranormal height velocity following a transient period of growth inhibition. The two classical hypotheses on the mechanism are the neuro-endocrine hypothesis (a central mechanism that would recognize the degree of mismatch between actual size and target size) and the growth plate hypothesis (local regulation of growth according to a preset cellular program of senescence, characterized by decreasing growth proliferation ra...

Study of the histopathology of human type 1 and 2 diabetes through the national pancreatic organ donor (nPOD) consortium has yielded interesting new insights that should also aid us in developing improved therapeutic approaches.1. When insulitis is observed, it usually shows a predominance of CD8 T cells, some of which are autoantigen specific (see also Coppieters et al. JEM 2012). It will be therapeutically challenging to remove/prevent CD8 mem...

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of mortality in diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1DM). Dyslipidemia will increase this risk. Several guidelines have been published, how to treat dyslipidemia in T1DM, yet some studies have shown that the number of patients who are treated according to these guidelines is low.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the frequency of dyslipidemia in children and adolescents with T1DM and if they are tr...

The transient activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis shortly after birth has been described as early as in the 70ies. This discovery has since been applied clinically as a ‘window of opportunity’ for diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected of endocrine disorders and differences of sex development. With the advent of increasingly more sensitive and specific analytical methods for peptide and steroid hormones produced in the pituitary, gonads...

Introduction: In cases of disorder of sex development (DSD), the change between the gender assigned at birth and the individual's chosen gender identity can occur especially after puberty.Aim: was to determine the relationship between genetic sex, gender assigned at birth and gender identity, and the importance of molecular diagnosis.Method:154patients older than 14years of ag...

Introduction: Among children with short stature, some show persistent IGF-I levels <-2.0 SDS despite a normal growth hormone (GH) response in a stimulation test. This may be caused by conditions that could benefit from recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy (e.g. GH neurosecretory dysfunction, bioinactive GH, partial GH insensitivity). Therefore, the IGF-I generation test (IGFIGT) was implemented in 2006 using a national, standardized protocol. Children with a...

Background: Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, characterised by early-onset diabetes and optic atrophy. It is caused by mutations in WFS1.Objective and hypotheses: This study aimed to comprehensively review the natural history of WS in a large cohort of patients from the EURO-WABB registry.Method: Data from EURO-WABB patients with WS was analysed in conjunction with the Leiden Open Variation Data...