ESPE Abstracts

Background: Minipuberty denotes a period 1–6 months postnatally in boys during which a transient activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is observed. This early hormone activation can be used diagnostically in patients suspected of pituitary deficiency and differences in sex development. However, its significance for prediction of reproductive function in healthy young men is unknown.Objective: To eval...

Introduction: Cortisol secretion is circadian-driven and plays a significant role in sleep quality. In children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) hydrocortisone is the preferred treatment. Hydrocortisone has a short half-life producing alternating hyper- and hypocortisolemia, a non-physiologic cortisol profile, likely disrupting sleep. However, minimal literature exists on sleep health in children with CAH.Objective:</str...

Background: The method for assessing adipose tissue thickness using ultrasound has been used extensively in sport medicine. However, the reliability of this method in children was not evaluated. We aim to determine the inter-observer reliability in measuring uncompressed subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness (USAT) using ultrasound, in children.Methods: About 40 healthy children (20 male, 20 female), median age 11.8 years (5.3 to 18.1) were evaluated. Me...

Introduction: HLA-G gene is involved in the control of immune response. It plays a primary role on immune tolerance and may participate in controlling autoimmune responses serving as a potential independent susceptibility marker. HLA-G has been isolated in some secretory granules and on the cell surface of primary islet cells induced to secrete insulin. Subsequently, it could be hypothesized that HLA-G methylation at pancreatic islet could sustain T cell activation and onset o...

Objectives: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are a growing population group. Current oncology treatments have led to improved patient survival rates and an increase in late effects of treatment. Endocrine disturbances, such as pituitary insufficiency, thyroid dysfunction and obesity are the most common late endocrine effects of oncology treatments. The purpose of the study was to investigate the endocrine health of CCS and to record the prevalence of late endo...

Objective: Recent experimental data suggest that circulating serotonin interacts with bone metabolism, although this is less clear in humans. This study investigated whether serum serotonin interferes with bone metabolism in young women with anorexia nervosa (AN), a clinical model of energy deprivation.Methods: Serum serotonin, markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin (OC), procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (PINP), type 1-C telopeptide breakdown prod...

Background: Obesity in childhood and adolescence represents a major public health problem of our century and the leading cause of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). A moderate elevation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations is frequently observed in obese children.Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the association of TSH and free thyroxine (FT4) concentrations with the clustering of cardiometabo...

Background: Obesity and unfavorable metabolic profile (insulin resistance and/or dyslipidemia) are frequently observed in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Adolescents (PCOS) girls regardless of weight.Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate clinical features and metabolic profile in PCOS adolescents, before, during and after Oral Contraceptive (OC) treatment.Method: We performed a retrospective study on 51 girls with PCOS diagnosed acc...

Background: Most reports on gonadotoxicity associated with chemotherapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) comes from studies in adults, and they are mainly focused on the sensitivity of testicular germ cells. Little attention has been placed on Sertoli cells in prepubertal patients, even though Sertoli cell function is essential for adult spermatogenesis.Objective: To evaluate Sertoli cell function in prepubertal boys who receive chemotherapy for ALL...

Background: The noncoding RNA growth-arrest-specific transcript 5 (Gas5) is abundant in cells whose growth has been arrested owing to lack of nutrients or growth factors. Gas5 is a riborepressor of the glucocorticoid receptor, influencing cell survival and metabolic activities during starvation by inhibiting the latter’s transcriptional activity.Aim: To determine the expression levels of Gas5 in blood samples of obese, overweight and lean children a...