ESPE Abstracts

Background: Liver steatosis (LS) results from ectopic fat deposition and can be present in obesity even at early ages. Similar to insulin resistance, the onset of LS does not seem to depend exclusively upon the severity of obesity and shows a large interindividual variability.Objective: Our objective was to develop a predictive normogram for LS in children and adolescents with obesity ba...

Background: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is one of the important hormonal mediators of human growth. Circulating IGF-I exists in a ternary complex bound to the acid-labile subunit (ALS) and one of its six binding proteins (BPs). IGF-I bound to ALS and BPs needs to be liberated by either Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protease A (PAPP-A) or A2 (PAPP-A2) to reach its receptor. Stanniocalcin 2 (STC2) is a potent inhibitor of both PAPP-A and PAPP-A2. Genome-wide association s...

Background: Pituitary gigantism is an extremely rare disorder characterised by GH excess that occurs before fusion of the epiphyseal growth plates.Case summary: A 13 years 6 month old Chinese boy presented to the paediatric endocrine outpatient clinic with tall stature. He was noted by his parents to have a continued growth spurt since 9 years old, and he required new shoes and clothes every school term. He had no headaches or visual disturbances. There ...

Background: Pseudohypoparathyroidism 1A, newly classified as inactivating PTH/PTHrP signaling disorder type 2 (iPPSD2), is defined by resistance to parathyroid hormone, short stature and early-onset obesity. Short stature is caused by skeletal dysplasia and additionally, in some cases, also by the coexistence of growth hormone deficiency, as other hormonal resistances might be present (e.g. thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), ...

Background and Aim: Pediatric patients with germline mutations in the phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten) gene frequently develop aberrant adipose tissue growth called lipomas. In severe cases, recurrent lipoma formation can have adverse effects on organ function and quality of life. Due to the lack of understanding the basis of lipoma development, no systemic treatment options are available. We therefore aimed to characterize an already described lipoma bea...

Background: Central precocious puberty (CPP) due to premature activation of GnRH secretion results in early epiphyseal fusion and to a significant compromise in the achieved final adult height as well as psychological consequences. So far only a limited number of genetic determinants have been associated with the pathogenesis in children with CPP. In this original research, rare sequence variants in MKRN3, DLK1, KISS1, and KISS1R genes were i...

Background: Disorders of sex development (DSD) may be associated with adverse psychosocial and psychosexual outcomes in adults. However, there is a paucity of information on health-related quality of life outcomes in parents and young children with DSD.Objective: To evaluate the use of parent-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires that can be routinely used in the outpatient setting to assess the impact of DSD on parents ...

Background: Craniopharyngioma is an embryonic tumor of low-grade malignancy. Children and adolescents with this diagnosis are analyzed concerning quality of life (QoL) and (progression-free) survival within the project KRANIOPHARYNGEOM 2007.Methods: The prospective, multi-center project consists of a randomized, unblinded substudy with adaptive design and an observational study. The randomized substudy for incompletely r...

Central precocious puberty (CPP) results from premature activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis through the activation of the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). Gain-of-function mutations of the KISS1 and KISS1R genes or loss-of-function mutations of the makorin RING-finger protein 3 (MKRN3) have been linked with CPP. Moreover intronic and intragenic variants harbouring the imprinted loci of MKRN3-MAGEL2 and DLK1 g...

Aims: The golden standard to characterize pubertal maturation is the analysis of steroid hormones in the blood. The aim of the investigation was to assess whether the analysis of salivary steroids is similarly able to characterize male pubertal development.Methods: The investigation included 165 normal boys (mean age 12.7±2.8 years, mean body mass index 19.6±4.2 kg/m2). Pubic hair stages were stratified by Tanner and testicular volum...