ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

To read the full abstract: Science 2019;365:eaat7693.These authors performed a genome-wide association study on 493 001 participants of European-ancestry from the USA, UK, and Sweden to identify genes associated with sexual orientation. They found multiple loci implicated in same-sex sexual behavior indicating that, like other behavioral traits, non-heterosexual behavior is polygenic.As many as 4% to 10% of US individuals ...

To read the full abstract: Thyroid. 2019;29:480–492.The thyroid axis is particularly responsive to critical illness. Adaptation processes of the thyroid axis to critical illness and prolonged fasting are well described as non-thyroidal illness syndrome. Non-thyroidal illness is mainly explained by two mechanisms: 1) peripheral inactivation of T4 to rT3 by decreased type-1 deiodinase...

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Dec 1;103(12):4617–4627.doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-00052. PMID: 30124873This study shows for the first time that epigenetic changes in the androgen receptor gene (AR) proximal promoter region may underlie a clinical phenotype of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) in individuals in whom no DNA sequence mutation in AR or ...

Nat Commun. 2018 Dec 14;9(1):5319.doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07784-9. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30552336Initial steps in the sex determination of the (human) testis depend on SRY regulating SOX9, but the exact mechanism that controls SOX9 expression remains unknown. These authors discovered four overlapping copy number variations (CNVs) upstr...

N Engl J Med. 2018 Sep 13;379(11):1042–1049.doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1800024. PMID: 30207912This case report describes two sisters with 46,XX karyotype and hypergonadotropic hypogonadism – i.e. ovarian dysgenesis. They had normal general development and normal cognition. With estrogen replacement they developed normal sex characteristics and reached their target he...

To read the full abstract: Lancet Respir Med. 2018; 6(6): 442–450.Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are widely used by patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although ICS are generally well tolerated and have fewer systemic adverse effects than oral corticosteroids, some patients develop systemic adverse effects. Adrenal suppression is a clinically i...

To read the full abstract: J Med Genet. 2019 Mar 15. pii: jmedgenet-2018-105714. [Epub ahead of print].Paragangliomas and pheochromocytomas (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumours that can arise either from the adrenal medulla (pheochromocytomas, PCC) or from extra-adrenal paraganglia (paragangliomas, PGL). PPGLs are considered to be the most heritable of human tumours with at least...

To read the full abstract: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018; 115(28): E6576–E6584.It is accepted that aggressive behavior can be viewed as a strategy by humans and animals to cope with stress, implying that neurobiological mechanisms involved in stress responses should underlie both physiological and pathological aggression (15, 16). The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal ...

To read the full abstract: Nature Medicine 2019; 25(3):507-516.This paper shows that quantitative leptin expression is controlled by redundant cis elements and trans factors that interact with the proximal promoter together with a long noncoding RNA.Friedman’s research group discovered the adipocyte hormone leptin more than 20 years ago. They identified loss o...

To read the full abstract: Int J Obes (Lond). 2019;43(6):1256–1268This epigenome-wide association study in stromal/stem cells (ASCs), derived from subcutaneous adipose tissue samples of lean and obese subjects, revealed a specific DNA methylation signature in adipocyte precursors associated with obesity, which has a significant impact on the metabolic phenotype and the mitochondrial...