ESPE Abstracts

Background: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is characterized by intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, a typical phenotype and feeding difficulties. It is related to 11p15 ICR1 hypomethylation in up to 50% of the cases. Some patients may exhibit signs of early puberty or premature adrenarche, including premature pubarche and/or an exaggerated adrenarche (high dehidroepyandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels for chronological age). Despite early feeding difficulties, some ch...

Background: Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder, which remains a clinical diagnosis. The Netchine-Harbison clinical scoring system (NH-CSS), recently adopted by the first international consensus on SRS, defines SRS with at least 4 of the 6 following criteria: born SGA, postnatal growth retardation, relative macrocephaly at birth, prominent forehead, body asymmetry and early feeding difficulties. It is related to 11p15 ICR1 loss ...

Background: The etiology of short stature is heterogeneous, often encompassing complex genetic disorders of difficult diagnosis. Analysis of chromosomic copy number variants (CNVs) has been demonstrating the important role of these genomic imbalances in population diversity and human disease.Objective and hypotheses: To analyze the frequency and describe novel submicroscopic chromosomal CNVs in a group of patients with short stature of unknown cause....

Background: Loss of imprinting has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases. Monogenic causes of central precocious puberty (CPP) were identified in families with loss-of-function mutations in two paternally expressed imprinted genes: Makorin zinc finger 3 (MKRN3) and Delta-like 1 homolog (DLK1). The role of imprinting defects in CPP has not been described so far.Objective: To inves...

Background: Idiopathic central precocious puberty (CPP) is mostly described as an isolated entity. A few studies have shown its association with clinical syndromes and rare cases of chromosomal abnormalities.Objective: To clinically characterize patients with CPP, pointing out prevalent associated conditions and phenotypes.Patients and Methods: One hundred and forty-five patients with idiopathic CPP were retrospectively evaluated. ...

Background: Patients born small for gestational age (SGA) with additional syndromic features to short stature are likely to present with genetic causes.Aim: To perform a clinical and genetic-molecular investigation of a group of syndromic SGA patients without catch-up growth.Methods: We selected 118 patients born SGA [birth weight and/or length standard deviation score (SDS) ≤−2 for gestational age] without catch-up gro...

Growth hormone (GH) is commonly used during childhood to treat short stature in Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS), but final height and long-term body mass index (BMI) data are limited.Objective: To evaluate height and BMI in older individuals with molecularly confirmed SRS and compare those previously treated with GH to those untreated.Methods: Growth data on individuals aged ≥13 years with SRS were evaluated from UK, French and...

Background: The aetiology of congenital hypopituitarism (CH) is unknown in the majority of patients. In our cohort of 200 cases, it was possible to establish the genetic cause in only 13 patients (6.5%). Copy number variants (CNVs) have been implicated as the cause of genetic syndromes with previously unknown aetiology.Objective: To study the presence of CNVs and its relevance in patients with CH of unknown cause associated with complex phenotypes.<p...

Introduction: Leydig cell tumors are rare (3% of testicular neoplasms). 80% of cases occurs in adult population, although a quarter is described in prepubertal patients older than four years. The clinic differs according to the patient's age. Activating mutations, acquired and limited to the tumor tissue, are described in exon 11 of the LH receptor gene. And in mixed Sertoli-Leydig tumors activating mutations of the Gs-alpha subunit of the stimulat...

Puberty is a crucial biological process normally occurring at a specific time during the lifespan, during which sexual and somatic maturation are completed, and reproductive capacity is reached. Pubertal timing is not only determined by genetics, but also by endogenous and environmental cues, including nutritional and metabolic signals. During the last decade, we have learned much regarding the essential roles of kisspeptins and the neuropeptide pathways that converge on these...