ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jun 1;105(6):dgaa131. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa131. PMID: 32170311Genetic control of height has been widely explored using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in multi-ethnic populations (1-4). Although familial short stature (FSS) is the most common type of short stature, its genetic profile and impact on bone metabolism remains to be investigated. This GWAS...

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2021 Apr;46(5):882–890.doi: 10.1038/s41386-020-00826-1. PMID: 32919399.This mouse study addresses the question of the psychological effects of treatment with the GnRH analogue (GnRHa) leuprolide. Six-week-old, i.e. early-pubertal, male and female mice were injected daily with leuprolide (20 μg) or saline for 6 weeks. The mice were subjected to a number...

Nat Med, 2021 Jun;27(6):1088–1096. 10.1038/s41591-021-01349-y. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34045736/This paper reports the high prevalence of MC4R loss-of-function (LoF) variants in a normal population and their large impact on longitudinally assessed anthropometric traits from birth to young adult life.Th...

kirsty.spalding@ki.se Nat Med 2021; 27(11): 1941–1953 doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01501-8Brief Summary: This study analysed adipocytes from obese and hyperinsulinemic adults. They demonstrate that obesity is associated with the induction of a cell cycle program in mature adipocytes, leading to so-called endoreplication, as a strategy to remain fu...

To read the full abstract: PLoS Med. 2019 Oct 1;16(10):e1002926. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002926.The authors analysed a huge dataset from the Chinese national programme of preconception health checks, which include measurements of fasting plasma glucose. Overall, 13.15% (n =847,737) had impaired fasting glucose and 1.18% (n =76,297 women) had diabetes, of whom only...

To read the full abstract: Genome Res 2018;28:423–431The discovery of a mummified humanoid female skeleton on a shelf in a building in La Noria, Chile in 2003 created enormous scientific and popular interest. Its highly unusual appearance included a length of only 6 inches despite a bone age of 6–7 years old, marked turricephaly (a cone-shaped top of the skull), and reduced number...

To read the full abstract: Sci Rep. 2017; 7(1): 7427Prenatal dexamethasone treatment has been suggested over three decades ago to prevent virilization of a female fetus affected with 21-hydroxylase deficiency due to genetic mutations in the CYP21A2 gene. However, current treatment guidelines for CAH regard this treatment still as experimental, mainly because follow-up studies of treated fetu...

Brief summary: In this experimental study, pancreas-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs) were implanted into the kidney capsule of mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. PMSCs led to increased levels of IL-6 in T-helper 1 and T-helper 17 cells, which transiently activated tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), which in turn decreased levels of interleukin-17. This was associated with exocrine pancreas regeneration and rescue of ...

In Brief: The authors created mouse embryos in the laboratory from a combination of multiple stem cell lines. These embryos were developed ex vivo up to the equivalent of day 8.5 post-fertilization. Embryos developed within an extraembryonic yolk sac and were similar to whole natural embryos, with defined forebrain and midbrain regions, a beating heart-like structure, a neural tube and somites, a tail bud containing neuromesodermal progenitors, a gut tube, and also pr...

To read the full abstract: Nature 2017;550:255-259Loss of appetite, and even aversion to food, is a common experience during periods of illness (e.g. infection and pyrexia) and/or treatment (e.g. chemotherapy). This responses is distinct from the body’s homeostatic mechanisms (the hypothalamic leptin receptor-AGRP-POMC-MC4R axis), which normally regulate appetite and weight gain in ch...