ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

To read the full abstract: Nat Commun 2019;10:343This paper reports many loci associated with chronotype (i.e. being a ‘morning person’ or ‘evening person’) in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 697, 828 participants from the UK Biobank and 23andMe cohorts. The link between chronotype and sleep timing and quality is well known. It was therefore interestin...

To read the full abstract: N Engl J Med 2017;377:28-40We highlight this paper for 3 reasons. First, remarkably there are few robust data on effective treatment options for endometriosis. Subcutaneous GnRH antagonists are sometimes used off-label, but with very limited evidence. Secondly, the clear findings here confirm the pathogenesis of endometriosis as being driven by an over-act...

Brief summary: This international multicentre study collected data from 104 290 children and adolescents (6 months-18 years-old), to compare prevalence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prevalence of DKA at T1D diagnosis increased from 27.3% pre-pandemic to 39.4% during the pandemic, and the increased trends were associated with the pandemic containment measures.DKA is a life-thr...

To read the full abstract: Nature. 2018 Jul;559(7714):405–409This article decries a CRISPR-Cas9 genome-targeting system that does not require viral vectors, allowing rapid and efficient insertion of large DNA sequences at specific sites in the genomes of primary human T cells, while preserving cell viability and function.The common approach to genetically...

Brief summary: MiTy Kids is a prospective cohort study of children who were exposed to metformin during pregnancy. At 24 months, no difference was observed between those exposed to metformin and a placebo group, in BMI trajectories, mean BMI Z-score, or mean sum of skinfolds. Among those exposed to metformin, the BMI was higher among males than females.Comment: Metformin is increasingly used during pregnancy in women with T2D, but data on its lo...

To read the full abstract: J Assist Reprod Genet. 2018 Jul; 35(7):1209.Galactosemia is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder of the galactose metabolism, caused by impaired activity of galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT). Complete deficiency or severely reduced activity of GALT affects approximately 1:30,000 to 1:50,000 persons. Girls and women with classic galactosemia have...

To read the full abstract: Sci Transl Med 2017;9(419)Can growth velocity be monitored by a lab test? Previous approaches to this methodological challenge focused on the correlation of linear growth to more established parameters such as C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). Potentially more specific markers of endochondral ossification - with the exception of amino-terminal propeptide of CNP (...

Brief summary: This genome-wide association study (GWAS) reports the first genetic loci for risk of primary aldosteronism. New candidate genes and their potential mechanisms for the development of aldosterone excess are described.Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent form of secondary hypertension (5% of patients with hypertension in primary care and 10–20% of patients with hypertension referred to specialist care). PA is associated with c...

Abstract: Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2019 Feb;7(2):93–105.In brief: The study reports outcomes of a single-arm 7-year phase 2 extension trial of Asfotase alfa for infants and children with life-threatening hypophosphatasia who received a median of 6·6 years of therapy. The early improvements previously reported were sustained for up to 7 years of treatment.<p class...

Brief summary: Roth et al. studied the relationship between obesity outcomes and meal-induced changes in neural activation to high- versus low-calorie food cues before and after 24-week family-based behavioral treatment (FBT) in n=28 children (9–11 years) with obesity and in n=17 children of healthy weight without intervention (9–11 years). Among children with obesity who underwent FBT, unfavorable changes were observed in peripheral hormon...