ESPE Abstracts

Background: Prediction models demonstrate potential in predicting growth in patients receiving recombinant human growth hormone (r-hGH) for growth disorders. However, considerable information from patients is needed to calculate a predicted growth curve. The curve matching technique only requires height data. This technique identifies growth curves that are similar (matched) among real-world patients within a database. The growth curves of these ‘matched...

Poor adherence to long-term growth hormone (GH) treatment can lead to suboptimal clinical outcomes. The easypod™ connect eHealth platform enables healthcare professionals to obtain an accurate picture of real-world adherence by allowing patients to transmit adherence data to a database. Our aims were to assess adherence to r-hGH (Saizen, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) treatment with the easypod connect platform in children from treatment start to 48 months and to investi...

Background: 46,XY patients with 5α-reductase deficiency (5-ARD), reared from birth as girls, are reported to self-reassign as boys subsequent to a masculinizing puberty; whether this holds true in cases of early orchidectomy is less well documented.Objective and hypotheses: Prepubertal orchidectomy reduces the likelihood of gender self-reassignment.Method: Presentation, management and outcome of two siblings with 5-ARD with na...

Background: Obese children come from families where either one or both parents are obese, suggesting obesity is the result of exposure to detrimental environment.Objective and hypotheses: We propose that inherited insulin resistance is the core which promotes development of obesity and that allergic airway obstruction stalls development of obesity, while peptic gastritis promotes over-eating by confounding portion control.Method: W...

Introduction: Lockdown measures following the COVID-19 pandemic are shown to have greatly affected lifestyle behaviours and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children. The impact on children with severe obesity has not yet been described. Aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on eating behaviours, physical activity (PA), screen time, and HRQoL of children (including adolescents) with severe obesity....

Introduction: Ghrelin binds to its receptor GHSR1A, encoded by GHSR, on somatotrophs of the pituitary. Growth hormone (GH) secretion is enhanced by ghrelin binding as well as the receptor’s constitutive activity. Results from in vitro experiments, knock-out mice, and GWAS suggest that heterozygous loss-of-function of GHSR may be associated with short stature, but observations in case studies are equivocal. We aimed to better ch...

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: Bone development and remodeling are controlled by the phosphoinositid-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway. We investigated the effects of downregulation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten), a negative regulator of PI3K signaling, in osteoprogenitor cells.Methods: Femura, tibiae and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from mice with Cre-inducible Pten knockdown in cells expressing the transcription factor Ost...

Aims: Do-It-Yourself Artificial Pancreas Systems (DIYAPS) represent a unique patient-initiated treatment in which commercially available and approved medical devices such as continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMs) and insulin pumps are connected by an off-label algorithm, and are remotely controlled by open-source algorithms to automate insulin delivery. While these systems are co-created by the DIYAPS community, and access is open to everyone, users have...

Background: Excessive energy intake and rapid weight gain early in life are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hepatic steatosis and other features of the metabolic syndrome. The monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) is an enzyme involved in an alternative pathway for triglyceride (TAG) synthesis and storage. It has been recently proposed to have potential implications in the pathogenesis of hepatic insulin resistance (IR).Objective: To understa...