ESPE Abstracts

Background: Associations between foetal androgen deficiency and variations in anogenital distance (AGD) suggest that AGD is a reliable indicator of foetal androgen exposure. Similarly, variation in postnatal penis growth associated with variations in testosterone show penis growth to be a potential biomarker of early postnatal androgen exposure. Though variation in early androgen exposure is also hypothesized to underlie neurobehavioral masculinisation, until now, no reports h...

Background: In children undergoing investigation of testicular function the relationship between serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and the testosterone response to hCG stimulation test (HST) is unclear.Method: 75 children (3F, 72M) with a median age of 1.08 years (range, 0.003, 14.3) were investigated for suspected DSD by AMH on D1 and testosterone on D1 and D4, before and after 3-day HST. Of these children, 27 had an additional prolonged HST. Normal te...

Background: Otological problems in Turner syndrome (TS) are notoriously common and troublesome, often requiring intervention with adeno-tonsillectomy, insertion of ventilation tubes and occasionally resulting in serious disease such as cholesteatoma.Survey of otological problems in the West of Scotland: A case note review of 174 girls attending the Turner clinic in Glasgow, Scotland from 1989–2015 found that of 155 patients in whom data were availab...

Background: In-vivo skeletal MRI imaging remains challenging due to the extremely short MR relaxation times (<1 ms) of protons bound to water in bone. However, each MRI sequence contains properties identifiable through feature-based recognition, highlighting characteristics relating to skeletal configuration. We thus present a novel statistical method for clinical 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI in quantifying trabecular microstructure and use HRpQCT to determine its accuracy.<...

Background: Classical and non-classical congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (CLAH) are extremely rare condition caused by mutations in StAR. The degree of enzyme activity impairment determines the clinical phenotypes.Objective and hypotheses: To identify the genetic cause of primary adrenal insufficiency in a cohort of patients from 13 unrelated families with classical and non-classical CLAH, to correlate genotype to phenotype and to identify ...

Background: States of vitamin D insufficiency are important determinants of rickets, as well as osteoporosis and other common complex disorders like diabetes, cancer, and infectious diseases. Although, serum concentrations of the vitamin D metabolites are primarily driven by vitamin D supply (by diet or cutaneous synthesis), there is emerging evidence to suggest that single nucleotide variants (SNVs) are important genetic determinants.Objective and hypot...

Background: The lipodystrophy syndromes are a heterogeneous group of congenital or acquired disorders characterized by either complete or partial lack of adipose tissue (lipoatrophy). Berardinelli Seip congenital lipodystrophy (BSCL) is a rare metabolic disorder characterized by severe generalised lipodystrophy since birth, insulin resistance, and dyslipemia since early infancy.Case presentation: We report a 6-year-old girl who arrived from Pakistan with...

Background: Local oestrogen production in the brain regulates critical functions including neuronal development, gonadotropin secretion and sexual behaviour. In the mouse brain, a 36 kb distal promoter (l.f) regulates the Cyp19a1 gene that encodes aromatase, the key enzyme for oestrogen biosynthesis. In vitro, promoter l.f interacts with oestrogen receptor alpha (Esr1) and Progesterone receptor (Pgr) to mediate Cyp19a1 mRNA expressi...

Background: Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) and glucose abnormalities have a negative impact on pulmonary function and survival in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGGT) is the screening test of choice for CFRD, although undetected high glucose levels can be missed with this test. The use of a continuous intersticial fluid glucose monitoring system (CGM) can be useful in these patients.Objective and hypotheses: To deter...

Background: Mutations in the PPARG gene, encoding peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARG) are associated with Familial lipodystrophy type 3. PPARG regulates fatty acid storage and glucose metabolism. The genes activated by PPARG stimulate lipid uptake and adipogenese by fat cells. In cases of lipodystrophy and defects of adipogenesis lipoid accumulates ectopically in the liver, skeletal muscle, pancreas and cardiovascular tissues and impairs the function of th...