ESPE Abstracts

Background and aim: Metformin is widely used in Type 2 diabetes, with increasing reports of a potential bone protective role. We investigated the role of AMPK in mediating the effects of metformin on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation to either osteoblasts or adipocytes.Methods: Confluent mouse MSCs (C3H10T1/2), wild type (WT) and AMPK knockout (KO) mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) were treated with metformin(500 μM), AMPK-activator A769662(...

Maternal obesity is the most common metabolic disturbance in pregnancy affecting more than 1 in 5 women in some regions. Obesity has short term risks during pregnancy for both mother and child, with increasing evidence demonstrating that there are also longer term risks of these exposures in pregnancy impacting on health of the offspring across the lifespan. Consistent and increasing evidence demonstrates a range of adverse health outcomes for offspring born to mothers who are...

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...

Primary Xanthomatous Hypophysitis (XH) is the rarest histological subtype of hypophysitis. Here we describe the case of a young 9-year-old girl diagnosed with this condition. The patient presented with a four-month history of an intermittent temporal-frontal headache that became gradually worse and constant for three days prior to admission. She did not have clinical signs or symptoms suggestive of increased intracranial pressure but had mild ataxia. On admission she was febri...

Metreleptin is a leptin analog used to treat metabolic complications of lipodystrophy, a set of rare disorders characterized by generalized (GL) or regional (PL) deficiency of adipose tissue, resulting in insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, steatohepatitis, and reproductive dysfunction. Metreleptin increases fertility, particularly in GL; spontaneous pregnancy without metreleptin was reported in only 4 patients with GL. Risks of metreleptin suggested by rodent studies ...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) affects 1:2,500 females and results from complete or partial loss of one of the X chromosomes. Typical traits associated with TS include short stature, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular and endocrine disorders. Long-term follow-up is needed from the time of presentation into adult life. Several genetic mechanisms have been proposed to account for the development of TS-associated featur...

Introduction: The human adrenal gland originates from the adrenogonadal primordium at around 4 weeks post conception (wpc) and undergoes marked developmental changes throughout the first half of pregnancy. Several key aspects of adrenal maturation are well-established, such as the formation of a large inner fetal zone (FZ) and synthesis of dehydroepiandrosterone, but many other processes contributing to adrenal gland development and function in humans are stil...

Introduction: Ovary development was once considered a largely passive process. RNA sequencing (RNAseq) approaches have allowed us to begin to characterise ovary development in previously unparalleled detail, revealing the process to be complex and, still, little understood. A challenge is synthesising and using these data to advance our understanding of clinical disease. Through a clinically-focused lens, we elucidate novel aspects of the transcriptional lands...

Background: Permanent adrenal insufficiency (AI) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening condition in children. Patients are at particular risk during times of stress. Thus, caregivers should have good illness management skills. Despite frequent teaching and seemingly good knowledge of illness management we still see a reluctance of caregivers to administer intramuscular (IM) hydrocortisone at home when indicated, preferring instead to drive themselves...

Background: Women with Turner syndrome (TS) are known to be at risk of osteoporosis and fracture. While childhood GH treatment is common in TS, the impact of this therapy on bone health has been poorly understood.Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of childhood GH-treatment on adult bone quality in TS women using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT).<p c...