ESPE Abstracts

Background: Telomere length at birth is a major determinant of telomere length in late adulthood. However, the prenatal setting of telomere length is poorly understood. Individuals born large from non-diabetic mothers are at lower risk for later-life disorders than those born small, a feature of their longer health span being a higher lean mass that provides more muscle strength and that is already present in infancy.Objective, hypotheses & methods: ...

Background: Oligo-ovulatory androgen excess in women (polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by NIH definition) is a major cause of subfertility and relates to hepatic steatosis, independently of obesity.Objective: To test whether early treatment of PCOS affects subsequent ovulation rate.Method: Adolescent girls with hyperinsulinemic androgen excess – a subgroup of PCOS – (mean age 16 year; BMI 23.7 kg/m2) randomly r...

Background: Fetal growth is partly regulated by epigenetic factors, such as DNA methylation. Altered methylation status in placental genes relates to gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and prematurity. However, the epigenetic mechanisms underlying fetal growth restraint in uncomplicated pregnancies remain unknown.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed at identifying new candidate genes related to fetal growth, by assessing DNA methylation profiling in placen...

Background: Prenatal growth restraint associates with risk for later diabetes particularly if such restraint is followed by postnatal formula-feeding (FOF) rather than breast-feeding (BRF). Circulating incretins can influence the neonatal programming of hypothalamic setpoints for appetite and energy expenditure, and are thus candidate mediators of the long-term effects exerted by early nutrition.Objective, hypotheses and method: We have tested this conce...

Background: Infants born small-for-gestational age (SGA) who develop postnatal weight catch-up are at risk for insulin resistance, central adiposity and cardiovascular disease in later life, even in the absence of overweight.Objective and hypotheses: In young (age 3–6 years) non-obese SGA children, we assessed arterial health by intima-media thickness (IMT) and abdominal fat distribution (subcutaneous, visceral, pre-peritoneal and hepatic components...

Background: Hyperinsulinemic androgen excess is the most common cause of hirsutism, acne, seborrhea and menstrual irregularity in adolescent girls. The ovarian androgen excess originates most often from an absolute or relative excess of fat (in adipose tissue and in organs such as the liver) and from the ensuing elevations in insulinaemia and gonadotropin secretion. There is no approved therapy for androgen excess in adolescent girls. The prime recommendation is to reduce body...

Background: Prenatal growth restraint associates with increased oxidative stress – as judged by mitochondrial dysfunction – in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia or diabetes, but it is uncertain whether this is also the case in uncomplicated pregnancies.Objective and hypotheses: To assess the link between fetal growth restraint and placental mitochondrial dysfunction, as reflected by changes in mitochondrial DNA content and superoxide dism...

Background: In rodents, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), an endocrine member of the FGF family, is mainly produced in the liver and promotes glucose oxidation in several tissues; the circulating concentrations of FGF21 rise shortly after birth. In the human, the ontogeny of circulating FGF21 is essentially unknown.Objective and hypotheses: To assess whether there is also a neonatal surge of circulating FGF21 concen...

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) 2 plays a fundamental role in prenatal growth and development. The IGF2 gene is imprinted, with the paternally inherited copy being active and the maternal copy being silenced in most tissues. During development, the expression of IGF2 is sexually dimorphic in some tissues and this is thought to be involved in the development of some sexually dimorphic features. For example, IGF2 expression is reported to be higher in the male brain co...

Background: Telomere length at birth is a major determinant of telomere length at later ages, up into senescence. However, the prenatal setting of telomere length is poorly understood. Individuals born large are at lower risk for later-life disorders, such as diabetes, than those born small, a feature of their longer health span being a higher lean mass that provides more muscle strength and is already present in infancy.Objective and hypotheses: To asse...