ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Preface: This selection of articles in the field of growth and growth factors is characterized by a number of papers unravelling novel pathophysiological mechanisms underlying some forms of severe short stature. Growth plate gene variants have been described in a high proportion of children with severe familial short stature and/or born small for gestational age. Besides, some studies have enriched the knowledge of IGF system physiology showing the key role of IGF-1 receptor in health and life span, the involvement of IGF-I and its receptor in the development and maintenance of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases and the capacity of IGF-II to modulate the innate immune memory of macrophages. Promising clinical trials have been published in the last year reporting the short-term efficacy of GH therapy in patients with Temple syndrome, the effectiveness of GH in improving mental and motor development in young children with Prader-Willi syndrome, the effect of GH treatment on growth of children with mutations of IGF-I receptor, the impact of combined GH/GnRH analogs on adult height of children with idiopathic short stature and of rhIGF-I/rhIGFBP-3 administration on the health outcomes of very preterm infants. We aimed to provide a balanced mixture of clinical practice papers and food for thought reports paving the way for further understanding of the fascinating physiology of growth and growth factors.