ESPE Abstracts

Background: Measuring testicular volume (TV) by orchidometer is a standard method of pubertal staging in boys. A paucity of evidence exists as to its inter and intra-user reliability and the impact of clinicians’ gender, training and experience on the accuracy of measurements.Objective and hypotheses: We engineered prosthetic models of different size testes to investigate the reliability of TV estimation.Method: The study was ...

Background: Obesity in adulthood is associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length, a marker of biological age that is also associated with age-related disorders, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.Objective and Hypotheses: To investigate the relation between BMI in childhood and adolescence and telomere length, by determining the mean telomere length of leukocytes.Patients and Method: Seven hundred fo...

Background: Primary generalized glucocorticoid resistance (PGGR) or Chrousos syndrome is a rare familial or sporadic condition caused by mutations in the hGR gene, which reduce tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids. A new case of PGGR caused by a novel heterozygous point mutation in the hGR gene, which resulted in threonine (T) to isoleucine (I) substitution at amino acid position 556 in the ligand-binding domain of the receptor, was recently reported in a patient with an adre...

Background: Decreased bone density using DXA is reported in mixed cohorts of testosterone treated and testosterone naïve men with Klinefelter syndrome (KS). Bone mass and body composition in men with congenital anorchia (CA) have never been previously reported.Objective and hypotheses: Men with KS and CA treated with testosterone from adolescence have normal bone mass and body composition.Method: Whole-body DXA and tibial (66%...

Background: rhGH therapy may improve linear growth in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Poor bone health and abnormal body composition are recognised complications in paediatric IBD.Objective and hypotheses: To investigate the effects of rhGH on bone health and body composition.Method: Sub-analysis of 13 children with IBD (12CD; 1UC) in a randomized controlled trial. Either rhGH (0.067 mg/kg per day) as daily s.c. inj...

Background: Ireland has a high incidence of type 1 diabetes in childhood (16.8/100, 000 per year (1). A small percentage of children with diabetes have maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) (2). Establishing the correct diagnosis is critical to optimal therapy and future genetic counselling (3).Objective and hypothesis: To review the cohort of children attending our tertiary diabetes service and describe the clinical features of those where MODY wa...

Background: Swyer syndrome (46,XY pure gonadal dysgenesis) is a rare disorder, which is characterized by female phenotype, female internal genitalia and fibrotic and primitive gonads. Classically, breast development and menstruation are absent due to hypergonadotropic hypogonadism.Objective and hypotheses: To our knowledge, three cases of Swyer syndrome with spontaneous breast development have been reported so far. In these reports, breast development wa...

Background: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is the rare inherited metabolic disorder resulting from loss-of-function mutation(s) in the tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP) gene. TNSALP deficiency can cause a spectrum of complications in children including premature deciduous tooth loss, rickets, poor growth, and compromised physical function. We previously reported that children, 5–12 years old, with HPP and treated with asfotase alfa, a recombinant bone-targeted huma...

Introduction: Anti-obesity drugs with increased efficacy and safety are urgently being sought. Peptide YY3–36 (PYY3–36) is an attractive drug target due to its anorectic effect and decreased circulation concentration, without drug resistance, in obese individuals. Its short half-life and required method of delivery are limiting factors in its clinical application. Transport and uptake mechanisms, including blood-brain barrier passage, of vitamin B12 (B12) is highly e...

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to genes encoding the FSHβ subunit and FSH receptor (FSHB/FSHR) affect FSH production (FSHB c.-211G>T) and receptor sensitivity/expression in vitro (FSHR c.2039A>G & FSHR c.-29G>A). FSHR c.2039A>G, but not FSHR c.-29G>A, is associated with increased FSH levels in adult women, while there are conflicting results on F...