ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Diabetologia. 2021 Jun;64(6):1342–1347. 10.1007/s00125-021-05428-0. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33830302/By studying data from very large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in European ancestry individuals, the authors compared genetic signals that confer risk of type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Only 5 signals ...

Nature. 2021 volume 594, 398–402https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03552-wThe authors report a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in 18 942 cases and 501 638 controls, finding 92 T1D-associated genomic loci (59 known and 33 novel). Furthermore they analyse DNA chromatin patterns in pancreas and peripheral white blood cells to help ident...

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020. Vol 105(8), 2789–2802. doi: https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa354The authors performed a randomized crossover trial of Late Dinner (22:00 hours) vs Routine Dinner (18:00) in a laboratory setting in 20 healthy adult volunteers. Meal contents and sleep period (23:00-07:00) were kept the same in both arms and sleep patterns were u...

JAMA. 2020;324(8):801–804.https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768716The authors analysed data from the German Diabetes Prospective Follow-up Registry (DPV) of children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) between March 13 to May 13, 2020, when most kindergartens and schools in Germany were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Compared to the previou...

JAMA Pediatr. 2021;175(3):251–259. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2773004The authors report a cluster randomized clinical trial in 79 California schools, involving 28,641 students in grades 3 to 8. The intervention comprised school measurements of BMI and sending the results to parents, but this had no effect on BMI Z-sco...

Nature, 2020. 580, 511–516.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2199-7 The authors identify in mice a population of neurons in the vagal ganglia and brainstem that are activated by the direct delivery of sugar but not artificial sweeteners to the gut. They genetically engineered changes in this gut-to-brain circuit. Silencing of synaptic activity in this circuit prevented...

N Engl J Med 2021; 384:1113–1124. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2028395 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2028395The authors report a 72-week, double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 320 adult patients with biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis (stage F1, F2, or F3). Patients were randomly assig...

Diabetologia, 2021; 64, 375–384.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00125-020-05302-5#Abs1The authors measured plasma anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels over 2x 5-year intervals in a prospective cohort study of 3293 healthy women aged 20–59 years at baseline. Lower baseline age-specific AMH levels were associated with a higher risk of Type 2 di...

Obesity (Silver Spring) 2021 Jan;29(1):56–61.https://bit.ly/2Sz4SBzOxytocin was investigated in this small experimental study for its potential benefits on obesity. To test oxytocin for suppression of behavioural impulses, 10 men with overweight or obesity were subjected to a task assessing ability and strategy to suppress behavioural impulses. After receiving intranasal oxytocin, compared with placebo, ...

Human Reproduction, 2021; 36(7): 1948–1958https://bit.ly/3vtcByFThis cross-sectional study shows that men who had been exposed in utero to endocrine disruptors (EDC) are twice more likely to have a low sperm count, below the reference values per ejaculation set by the World Health Organisation.Male reproductive function is known to be highly sensitive to a number of chemical compou...

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021; 16;106(7):e2700–e2710.PMID: 33606028 doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab093This paper illustrates the power of machine learning to successfully predict adult height using growth measurements before age 6 years, without the need for bone age.Computers beat us in games of predictions, such as chess. They beat us also in the exercise of predictin...

Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2021; 118 (7) e2003926118https://bit.ly/35huXbaBy analysing data from Israeli health records, including millions of hormone blood tests, the authors find peaks during winter−spring in the circulating levels of all primary hormones involved in human growth, stress, metabolism and reproduction. By contrast, the pituitary-derived regulatory hormones peak in summer. This circannual c...

Hormone Research in Paediatrics 2020;93:548–557https://bit.ly/2ToJvmvThe authors studied 2,657 German children aged 5-18 years to look for social patterning in the age at puberty timing and circulating gonadotrophin levels. Lower socio-economic status (SES) was associated with earlier thelarche, longer duration of puberty, and overweight in girls, but not age at menarche. In boys, lower SES showed a tren...

Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020, Nov; 117(46): 28971–28979https://bit.ly/2RQiZlzThe authors report the generation, structure and function of a fully humanized, humanized antibody that profoundly inhibits follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) actions in cell-based assays. Administration of the antibody to ovariectomized mice prevented bone loss and also accumulation of adipose tissue when fed a high-fat diet (H...

Nature 2020 Dec; 588(7836): 112–117https://go.nature.com/3go7UjOThirst is sensed by two distinct types of stimuli – osmotic and hypovolaemic. The authors show that in mice these two stimuli act via separate mechanisms and neuron types, and lead to distinct drinking behavioural responses. High blood osmolality induces osmotic thirst that drives water consumption. By contrast, hypovolaemia driv...

Endocrinology 2020 Aug 1;161(8):bqaa097.https://bit.ly/3zqg6c5This study, in a GH-deficient mouse model, shows that a 20-kDa variant of placental GH (20k-GH-V) retains the growth-promoting effects of normal pituitary-derived GH (GH-N), but with the advantages of having no diabetogenic or prolactin receptor (PRLR)-mediated tumour-promoting effects.One of the first described actions of GH...