ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

In Brief: Current dogma is that lymphatic vessels are absent in bone and bone marrow. Using advanced 3D-imaging and mouse genetics, these authors show the presence of lymph vessels in bone. Moreover, they show that genotoxic stress causes lymph vessels expansion and lymphangiogenesis in bone, which in turn promotes bone and hematopoietic regeneration.Commentary: The lymphatic system maintains fluid homeostasis, removes cellular waste products and produce...

Brief summary: Using human induced pluripotent stem cells as well as transgenic mouse models, this paper shows that MKRN3 could initiate pubertal onset by regulating hypothalamic development and plasticity.The reactivation of GnRH secretion at puberty is thought to result from a loss in inhibitory input together with an increase in transactivation onto GnRH neurons. The main component of this inhibitory tone was incompletely understood until the discover...

Brief summary: In this experimental study, a transdermal polymeric microneedle (MN) patch for glucose-responsive closed-loop insulin and glucagon delivery was developed. In chemically-induced type 1 diabetes (T1D) mouse and minipig models, this glucose-responsive dual-hormone MN patch demonstrated tight regulation in blood glucose.The interplay between insulin and glucagon is essential for blood glucose regulation in individuals with or without diabetes....

Brief summary: This randomized, controlled study in healthy-weight individuals examined the effect of a daily high-fat/high-sugar (HF/HS) intervention over 8 weeks on fat and sugar preference, alterations of brain response to food and sensory associative learning. It addressed the question, whether the association between obesity and altered brain function is pre-existing, is secondary to obesity or is attributed to western diet.Current models of obesity...

Brief summary: This pooled study, including five cross-sectional or intervention studies (n=24–823) and using publicly available data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to perform Mendelian randomization, investigated the influence of glucose, insulin, body fat, body mass index (BMI), food intake, and physical activity on serum soluble leptin receptor (sOb-R) levels. The authors showed that insulin and BMI were associated with decreased serum sOb-R level...

Brief summary: This analysis of data from the TODAY study examined the impact of parental diabetes on outcomes in young individuals with T2D during over 12 years of follow-up. This novel observation demonstrates that parental diabetes affects not only earlier T2D onset, but also more rapid long-term progression and more complications.Comment: This study showed that T2D diagnosis in either parent was associated with younger age at T2D diagnosis in their c...

Brief summary: This maternal genome-wide meta-analysis of gestational duration (n=195 555) found 22 associated loci and an enrichment in genes expressed during labour. The related meta-analysis of preterm delivery (18 797 cases, 260 246 controls) revealed seven associated loci and large genetic similarities with gestational duration. Maternal alleles that increase gestational duration had a negative effect on birth weight.Preterm delivery is one...

Brief summary: In this cross-sectional study, 11-oxygenated androgens were measured in morning serum samples from 290 healthy adults (125 men, age 22–95 years; 165 women, age 21–91 years) by LC–MSMS (liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry) to generate normative values across the lifespan. In a subset of volunteers (n=83), additional measurements were performed in saliva to assess diurnal and menstrual cycle-dependent variation. In general, it w...

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Mar 25:dgab190. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab190. PMID: 33765130. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/106/7/e2557/6188450?redirectedFrom=fulltextIn brief: This multicentre cohort study explores the frequency, long-term outcomes and potential p...

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Mar 25;106(4):1111–1128.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33382876/In this multicentre patient cohort study, the authors investigated the use of targeted metabolomics to discriminate primary hypertension (PHT) from endocrine forms of hypertension (EHT). They identified 16 metabolites that help to discriminate between PHT and EHT.Arteri...