ESPE Abstracts

Background: The 2018 international standards of care for DMD recommend initiating testosterone for management of delayed puberty commencing at a low dose, gradually increasing to adult replacement. No recommendations exist regarding longer term use of testosterone during transition and adulthood.Aim(s): To report long-term use of testosterone in DMD with outcomes of gonadal function and pubertal development in those who ...

Background: Somavaratan, a novel long-acting rhGH fusion protein with t1/2>100 h, previously demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements in height velocity (HV) and IGF-I in prepubertal GHD children (Moore JCEM 2016).Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate maintenance of somavaratan treatment effects in the 2nd treatment year.Method: After subcutaneous pediatric doses were evaluated in a single dose PK/PD study (<e...

Introduction: The annual incidence of severe influenza infections reaches 5 million cases globally. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are known to suffer more severe influenza infections, with increased mortality. Despite vaccination being recommended as standard of care, vaccination uptake rates have remained low for our DM patients. We undertook a quality improvement (QI) initiative to improve influenza vaccination uptake rates in our paediatric DM clinic...

Background: Several bone metabolic pathways seem to be disrupted in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), leading to reduced bone mass.Objective and hypotheses: Our aim was to study bone metabolism markers in children and adolescents with T1DM and their correlation with bone mineral density (BMD).Method: We evaluated 40 patients (mean±S.D. age 13.04±3.53 years, mean±S.D. T1DM du...

Introduction: There are well described sex differences in the immune system. It has been shown in both innate and adaptive immunity that females have a more robust response than males. Various autoimmune diseases have a strong sex bias towards females. It is the accepted dogma that oestrogen in females relates to an increased risk of autoimmunity, but evidence to this end is scarce. Interferon alpha (IFNα) is a potent anti-viral innate cytokine, and many autoimmune diseas...

Background: Craniopharyngioma is a rare, suprasellar tumour, which, together with associated surgery or radiotherapy, results in damage to the hypothalamus and severe obesity in approximately 50% of cases. The multi-factorial mechanisms underlying the development of obesity in craniopharyngioma are not well understood. Hypothalamic damage in craniopharyngioma has been associated with dysfunctional parasympathetic nervous system activity leading to altered gluc...

Background: Transient hypothyroxinaemia of prematurity (THOP), defined as low levels of FT4 without the expected TSH surge, may concern up to 50% of infants born <30 weeks’ gestational age. Most studies showed a link between THOP and impaired neurodevelopment, as shown in the review of Eerdekens. Data about the benefit of supplementation are scarce, with few randomised trials and inconclusive results. To date, there are no clear recommendations regard...

Background: Isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) may be due to several different causes. Mutations in the GHRH receptor (GHRHR) gene are a relatively rare cause of IGHD.Objective and hypotheses: To understand the molecular cause of severe short stature in a large highly consanguineous family with IGHD.Method: Affected patients were evaluated for GH secretion and other anterior pituitary function. Anterior pituitary size was measu...

Background: Emerging evidence suggests a link between the intestinal microbiota and cardiometabolic outcomes in both children and adults. The oral microbiota is less studied, and the association between the oral microbiota and cardiometabolic health in childhood remains largely unknown.Objective: To explore the associations between oral microbiota diversity measured at 8-10 yr and cardiometabolic health in childhood and ...

Background: Hypophysitis is a rare inflammatory condition of the pituitary that can mimic a neoplastic lesion. Histopathology subtypes include lymphocytic, granulomatous, xanthomatous, plasmacytic or a mixed picture. Among these, xanthomatous hypophysitis (XH) is the least common with an unknown aetiology. Unlike lymphocytic hypophysitis, which is believed to be autoimmune in origin, XH is rarely reported to be associated with other autoimmune diseases and res...