ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Nature 2020; 583: 96–102https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2434-2The authors applied whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in 9,802 patients with a rare disease in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover unknown aetiological variants in the coding and non-coding regions of the genome. WGS identified the genetic diagnosis in 1138/7065 extensively phenoty...

Brief Summary: This study suggests that excessive interferon-γ–mediated responses have a pathogenic role in APS-1 and provides the foundation for therapies that affect interferon-γ–mediated disease.Commentary: Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1), also known as autoimmune polyendocrinopathy, candidiasis, and ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), is an autosomal recessive multiorgan syndrome caused by loss-of-function variants in ...

Elife. 2020 Oct 16;9:e55212 Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33063669/In brief: In some species, growth plate and articular cartilage are not separated by secondary ossification centers. Here, the authors used mathematical modeling, ex vivo models and biophysical tests and indirectly demonstrate that secondary ossification centers evolved in order to protect the g...

Nat Med. 2021 Nov;27(11):1928-1940. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01502-7. PMID: 34663987.Brief Summary: This clinical study characterised the spectrum of novel diabetes phenotypes due to mutations in the Transcription factor One Cut Homeobox 1 (ONECUT1)/hepatocyte nuclear factor 6 (HNF6). The study uncovers novel forms of diabetes mellitus due to mutations in ONECUT1.<p cl...

To read the full abstract: Horm Res Paediatr. 2019;92:1–14In March 2019, 46 international experts from 14 countries across 5 continents attended a 3-day workshop organized by the Growth Hormone Research Society (GRS) and produced this perspective on the diagnosis, management and therapy in children with short stature. In this context, this expert panel tackled almost all aspects related to the management of children with short stature, prov...

To read the full abstract: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117(4): 2187–2193. PMID: 31932420.Since their discovery ~70 years ago, glucocorticoids (GC) have been widely used to elicit a systemic anti-inflammatory response, and currently play a major role in the treatment of asthma and other inflammatory diseases (1). However, unresponsiveness to GC in some individuals i...

To read the full abstract: Science 2019;365:386–392.By genetically engineering mice, the authors deleted the enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase 1 (DES1), which normally inserts a conserved double bond into the backbone of ceramides. Ablation of DES1 from whole animals or tissue-specific deletion in the liver and/or adipose tissue resolved hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance in mice caused by leptin deficiency or obesogenic diets<p c...

To read the full abstract: N Engl J Med. 2019;380:1316–1325.This large multicenter randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, in euthyroid women with thyroid peroxidase antibodies and a history of miscarriage or infertility, found no effect of levothyroxine substitution from before conception to the end of pregnancy on likelihood of live birth.In 2011, ...

To read the full abstract: N Engl J Med 2018;379:2131–2139.The authors reviewed data on 1519 patients referred to the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN), a US NIH funded network linking seven clinical sites. 53% of patients were female and their symptoms were neurologic (40%), musculoskeletal (10%), immunological (7%), gastrointestinal (7%), or rheumatological (6%). Of the 38...

To read the full abstract: Eur J Endocrinol. 2018 Apr;178(4):377-388[Comments on 7.7 and 7.8] Familial self-limited delayed puberty is highly heritable and has a clear genetic basis as described in the review written by Sasha Howard. Recent studies suggest that the genetic basis of self-limited delayed puberty is likely to be highly heteroge...