ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

To read the full abstract: Nature 2018;555:647-651An important model system in evolutionary developmental biology (‘evo-devo’) are the surface dwelling (surface fish) and cave adapted (cavefish) morphs which differ in numerous traits. Cavefish is a generic term for fresh water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Living in darkness, pigmentation and eyes are use...

To read the full abstract: Science 2017;357:1282-1287This Neanderthal boy died 49,000 years ago from an unknown cause at a dental age of 7.7 years. Most of his bones agreed with this estimation. The authors claim that his general pattern of growth was like that of modern humans, except that the atlas and mid-thoracic vertebrae matured later and remained at the 5-6-year stage of deve...

Brief summary: Current guidelines for congenital hypothyroidism recommend a starting dose of 10–15 μg/d of levothyroxine for optimal treatment (1). Over the last years, some studies suggested that overtreatment of patients during infancy by high levothyroxine doses might have negative effects on neurocognitive and behavioral development (2). The presented multicenter prospective randomized trial aimed at comparing the effect of higher (12.5–15.0 μg/d levoth...

Brief summary: Congenital central hypothyroidism is caused by thyrotropin deficiency, either isolated or in combination with other pituitary deficiencies. So far, mutations in five genes have been identified in patients with isolated thyrotropin deficiency: thyroid stimulating hormone subunit β (TSHβ), thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor (TRHR), immunoglobulin superfamily member 1 (IGSF1), transducin-like protein 1 (TBLX1), and ...

Brief summary: This ex vivo/ in vitro study describes a novel regulatory mechanism of androgen receptor (AR) gene transcription by intranuclear actin assembly in droplets upon dihydrotestosterone (DHT) stimulation mediated by DAAM2 (Dishevelled-associated activator of morphogenesis 2) gene.Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is a common etiology in individuals with 46, XY disorder/differences of sex development, AIS has diverse genita...

Brief summary: Two unrelated patients with a disorder of sex development (DSD) phenotype of partial androgen insensitivity (PAIS) showed heterozygous variants in the DAAM2 gene. Their genital skin fibroblasts showed reduced dihydrotestosterone-stimulated androgen receptor (AR) activity. Extensive basic studies revealed the underlying mechanism of the DSD in which DAAM2-regulated actin polymerization at the ligand-inducible androgen receptor is required for androgen-st...

Science. 2020 Oct 23;370(6515):463-467. doi: 10.1126/science.aba4767. PMID: 33093109These researchers used lineage tracing, combined time-lapse imaging with single cell RNA sequencing in zebrafish, and identified that endoderm actually also contributes to the formation of adenohypophysis primordium and resultant pituitary.The pituitary gland is considered to be forme...

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2021 Feb;94(2):269–276. doi: 10.1111/cen.14353. PMID: 33098093.Every clinician encounters sometimes tricky incidentalomas, i.e., non-symptom-related imaging findings that are a consequence of increased availability and resolution of radiologic imaging.This study evaluated pediatric pituitary incidentalomas (PIs). Pituitary microadenomas...

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020;105:dgaa415. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa415.The optimal cut-off for neonatal screening has long been a matter of debate. The optimal balance between optimal detection of cases and increase of false positive patients is difficult to define. Also, in the most recent guidelines for congenital hypothyroidism (see previous paper in this chapter 3.7), no precise cut-off...

Clinical Endocrinology. 2020;93:305–311. doi: 10.1111/cen.14264. PMID: 32521075This study analyzed retrospectively GH content in newborn screening cards of 20 children with clinical features suggestive of GH deficiency (such as recurrent hypoglycemia) compared to screening cards from 281 healthy newborns, and determined 7 ng/ml to be the optimal a cut off value for the diagnosis of GH defic...