ESPE Abstracts

Background: Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway is frequent in adrenocortical tumors (ACTs). This pathway and DAX1, a negative regulator of SF1 expression, control adrenal stem/progenitor cells, which can be involved in ACTs formation.Objective: To analyse the association between the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and the expression of a stem cell marker (NANOG), STAT3, DAX1 and SF1 in ACTs.Methods: Patients:...

Background: Neonatal over-nutrition (NON) can increase the propensity to become overweight and develop associated metabolic disturbances in later life. Moreover, some of these long-term effects are sexually dimorphic.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to determine how NON affects body weight (BW), body composition and triglyceride (TG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) levels. We hypothesized that the effects would be both age and sex dependant.<...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PA) in pediatric and young patients comprise a rare pathology of unknown prevalence. The majority are sporadic, but 5% occur in a familial setting, either as isolated (FIPA) or as part of a syndrome. The identification of genetic alterations has broaden the scope of molecular investigations. We describe the clinical characteristics of patients with sporadic PA arising before the age of 35 years and perform thorough genetic scr...

Background: Rare genetic diseases of obesity are often driven by gene variants in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway. The MC4R agonist setmelanotide demonstrated significant reductions in body weight in patients ≥6 years old with various rare genetic diseases of obesity, including proopiomelanocortin (POMC), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 (PCSK1), or leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency and Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). While these condit...

Background: Hypospadias surgery is usually performed during infancy at which time parents act as proxy decision makers. Parental decisional regret, a common phenomenon after hypospadias surgery, may be affected by the process of informed consent where decision making between parents and healthcare provider is shared based on available evidence and individual concerns.Objective: To identify short- and long-term parental c...

Background: Insulin resistance occurs in a variety of common endocrine disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and metabolic syndrome. Additionally, rare syndromes exist that result in extreme insulin resistance. These conditions help contribute to our knowledge of the mechanisms of insulin signalling and resistance.Objective and hypotheses: We report a case of a 12 year old female presenting to endocrinology clinic for...

Background: Steroids are found in human blood predominantly as sulfated steroids. Conjugation of steroids increases their solubility in blood, facilitating their physiological regulation and excretion. Chromatographic separation and quantification of an extensive number of sulfated steroids is challenging. For instance, androgen sulfates are structurally related and their signals are very similar in mass spectrometry.Objective and hypotheses: Some of the...

Background: Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) is a very rare dominantly inherited autosomal bone disorder mainly characterized by hypoplasia or aplasia of clavicles, failure of cranial suture closure, dental anomalies, short stature, and other changes in skeletal patterning and growth. Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations cause the majority of the abnormalities in the run-related transcription factor 2 gene (RUNX2). This gene is located on chromosome 6p21 and i...

Background: Pseudohypoaldosteronism is a rare condition of renal or systemic resistance to aldosterone, divisible into separate clinical presentations, each with a distinct physiological and genetic basis. Transient pseudohypoaldosteronism is a secondary form, characterised by reduced glomerulofiltration rate. It has been described in infants with obstructive uropathy and urinary tract infections.Method: We present five cases, presenting in infancy with ...

Background: GLUT1 deficiency syndrome (GLUT1DS) is a treatable epileptic encephalopathy resulting from impaired glucose transport into the brain. Clinical features comprise motor and mental developmental delay, seizures with infantile onset, deceleration of head growth often resulting in acquired microcephaly, and a movement disorder with ataxia, dystonia, and spasticity. While it is known that ketogenic diet may cause growth retardation, GH deficiency (GHD) may represent anot...