Accuracy of Glucagon Testing Across Transition in Young Adults With Childhood-Onset GH Deficiency.

Context: The 2019 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists guidelines suggested peak GH-cutoffs to glucagon test (GST) of ≤3 and ≤1 µg/L in the diagnosis of permanent GH deficiency (GHD) during the transition phase.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of GST compared to insulin tolerance test (ITT) in the definition of GHD at adult height achievement.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-seven subjects with childhood-onset GHD (median age, 17.

Central Precocious Puberty in Italian Boys: Data From a Large Nationwide Cohort.

Context: There are only a few nationwide studies on boys with central precocious puberty (CPP) and the last Italian study is a case series of 45 boys that dates back to 2000.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the causes of CPP in boys diagnosed during the last 2 decades in Italy and the relative frequency of forms with associated central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to idiopathic ones.

Methods: We performed a national multicenter retrospective study collecting data from 193 otherwise normal healthy boys with a diagnosis of CPP.

MKRN3 circulating levels in girls with central precocious puberty caused by MKRN3 gene mutations.

Purpose: MKNR3 is a paternally expressed gene whose mutations are the main cause of central precocious puberty (CPP). Protein circulating levels can be easily measured, as demonstrated in idiopathic CPP and healthy controls. No data are available for patients harboring an MKRN3 mutation.

Precocious Puberty Diagnoses Spike, COVID-19 Pandemic, and Body Mass Index: Findings From a 4-year Study.

Context: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of girls with suspected precocious puberty has increased.

Objective: To compare the incidence of idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) during COVID-19 with that of the previous 4 years.

Methods: Anthropometric, biochemical, and radiological parameters were collected between January 2016 and June 2021 from 133 girls who met the Rapidly Progressive ICPP criteria (RP-ICPP).

Whole genome sequencing in ROHHAD trios proved inconclusive: what's beyond?

Rapid-onset Obesity with Hypothalamic dysfunction, Hypoventilation and Autonomic Dysregulation (ROHHAD) is a rare, life-threatening, pediatric disorder of unknown etiology, whose diagnosis is made difficult by poor knowledge of clinical manifestation, and lack of any confirmatory tests. Children with ROHHAD usually present with rapid onset weight gain which may be followed, over months or years, by hypothalamic dysfunction, hypoventilation, autonomic dysfunction, including impaired bowel motility, and tumors of neural crest origin. Despite the lack of evidence of inheritance in ROHHAD, several studies have been conducted in recent years that have explored possible genetic origins, with unsuccessful results.

Blood Lymphocyte Subsets and Proinflammatory Cytokine Profile in ROHHAD(NET) and non-ROHHAD(NET) Obese Individuals.

Context: Rapid-onset obesity with central hypoventilation, hypothalamic dysfunction, and autonomic dysregulation with neural crest tumors (ROHHAD-NET) syndrome pathophysiology remains elusive. Acquired neuroimmunological dysfunction has been proposed as a possible pathogenetic pathway.

Objective: The aim of our study was to characterize lymphocyte subpopulations subsets in peripheral blood (PB) and to evaluate a panel of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines in ROHHAD(NET) patients vs controls.

Corrigendum: Pubertal timing in children with Silver Russell syndrome compared to those born small for gestational age.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.

Pubertal timing in children with Silver Russell syndrome compared to those born small for gestational age.

Context: Data on pubertal timing in Silver Russell syndrome (SRS) are limited.

Design And Methods: Retrospective observational study including twenty-three SRS patients [11p15 loss of methylation, (11p15 LOM, n=10) and maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 7 (mUPD7, n=13)] and 21 small for gestational age (SGA). Clinical (thelarche in females; testis volume ≥ 4 ml in males; pubarche), BMI SD trend from the age of 5 to 9 years to the time of puberty, biochemical parameters of puberty onset [Luteinizing hormone (LH), 17-β-estradiol, testosterone], and bone age progression were evaluated.

Clinical, Endocrine and Neuroimaging Findings in Girls With Central Precocious Puberty.

Context: The etiology of central precocious puberty (CPP) includes a spectrum of conditions. Girls younger than age 6 years with CPP should undergo cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but it remains controversial whether all girls who develop CPP between the ages of 6 and 8 years require neuroimaging examination.

Objective: To investigate the frequency of brain MRI abnormalities in girls diagnosed with CPP and the relationship between maternal factors, their age at presentation, clinical signs and symptoms, hormonal profiles, and neuroimaging findings.

Sedentary lifestyle and precocious puberty in girls during the COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian experience.

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate children observed for suspected precocious puberty in five Italian centers of Pediatric Endocrinology during the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic (March-September 2020), compared to subjects observed in the same period of the previous year.

Design: The study population (490 children) was divided according to the year of observation and final diagnosis: transient thelarche, non-progressive precocious puberty, central precocious puberty (CPP), or early puberty.

Results: Between March and September 2020, 338 subjects were referred for suspected precocious puberty, compared to 152 subjects in the same period of 2019 (+122%).

Sleep disturbances in craniopharyngioma: a challenging diagnosis.

Craniopharyngiomas are rare solid or mixed solid and cystic tumors that arise from Rathke's pouch remnants along the pituitary-hypothalamic axis, from the sella turcica to the brain third ventricle. Both the tumor and its treatment can lead to significant neurological and endocrinological complications. Due to the essential role of the hypothalamus in the complex neurophysiologic process of sleep, tumors involving the hypothalamic area may be responsible for disturbances in sleep-wake regulation with alterations in the circadian rhythm, sleep fragmentation, and increased daytime sleepiness.

Cognitive and White Matter Microstructure Development in Congenital Hypothyroidism and Familial Thyroid Disorders.

Context: Children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) are at risk for suboptimal neurodevelopment.

Objectives: To evaluate neurocognitive function and white matter microstructure in children with permanent or transient CH and to correlate these findings with disease severity.

Design, Participants And Methods: A retrospective and prospective observational study was conducted in 39 children with permanent or transient CH, and in 39 healthy children.

Short-term surgical complications of spinal fusion in myelomeningocele.

Study Design: Retrospective review of a prospective database.

Purpose: To determine the rate of short-term surgical complications in the 3-month postoperative period in patients with myelomeningocele (MMC) who underwent surgical correction of spine deformities.

Methods: This study reviewed the medical records of MMC patients, aged ≤ 18 years, who underwent spine deformity correction between 2012 and 2018.

Endocrine Outcomes In Central Diabetes Insipidus: the Predictive Value of Neuroimaging "Mismatch Pattern".

Context: The etiology of central diabetes insipidus (CDI) in children is often unknown. Clinical and radiological features at disease onset do not allow discrimination between idiopathic forms and other conditions or to predict anterior pituitary dysfunction.

Objective: To evaluate the evolution of pituitary stalk (PS) thickening and the pattern of contrast-enhancement in relation with etiological diagnosis and pituitary function.

Central diabetes insipidus in children: Diagnosis and management.

Central diabetes insipidus (CDI) is a complex disorder in which large volumes of dilute urine are excreted due to arginine-vasopressin deficiency, and it is caused by a variety of conditions (genetic, congenital, inflammatory, neoplastic, traumatic) that arise mainly from the hypothalamus. The differential diagnosis between diseases presenting with polyuria and polydipsia is challenging and requires a detailed medical history, physical examination, biochemical approach, imaging studies and, in some cases, histological confirmation. Magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard method for evaluating the sellar-suprasellar region in CDI.

Long-term Effect of Islet Transplantation on Glycemic Variability.

Islet transplantation has been reported to restore normoglycemia and the overall metabolic control in type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). In the most experienced centers, islet transplantation clinical outcome is similar to that of the whole pancreas transplantation. Long-term islet transplantation function remains a very interesting matter worth discussing.

Immediate Extinction Attenuates Spontaneous Recovery and Reinstatement in a Passive Avoidance Paradigm.

Recent research suggests that extinction occurring shortly after fear conditioning attenuates spontaneous recovery and reinstatement of fear. Two experiments investigated whether immediate extinction would prevent spontaneous recovery and reinstatement of fear using a passive avoidance paradigm. In Experiment 1, naive female adult rats (N = 40) received extinction training either immediately or 24 hours (delayed) after fear conditioning.

Mild hypothermia can disrupt extinction learning but not original conditioning.

Using a retrograde amnesia procedure, the susceptibility of the extinction of fear conditioning was assessed in two experiments. Extinction of a passive-avoidance task was impaired by a body-cooling treatment (e.g.

Four-year impact of a continuous quality improvement effort implemented by a network of diabetes outpatient clinics: the AMD-Annals initiative.

Aims: We evaluated the impact of a continuous quality improvement effort implemented by a network of Italian diabetes clinics operating in the national healthcare system.

Methods: This was a controlled before-and-after study involving 95 centres, of which 67 joined the initiative since 2004 (group A) and 18 were first involved in 2007 (group B, control). All centres used electronic medical record systems.

Plasmon spectra in two-dimensional nanorod arrays.

For various types of ensembles of metal nanorods, the frequencies of longitudinal and transverse plasmons were calculated and correlations between the plasmon frequency shifts and the topology of nanorod arrays were found. The theoretical predictions were compared with the experimentally determined optical absorption in arrays of polymer-terminated Au nanorods obtained by self-assembly in selective solvents.

Photothermally-triggered self-assembly of gold nanorods.

Herein we demonstrate the photothermally-triggered self-assembly of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-functionalized gold nanorods in one-dimensional structures.

"Supramolecular" assembly of gold nanorods end-terminated with polymer "pom-poms": effect of pom-pom structure on the association modes.

We report a predefined self-organization of gold nanorods (NRs) end-terminated with multiple polymer arms ("pom-poms") in higher-order structures. The assembly of polymer-tethered NRs was controlled by changing the structure of the polymer pom-poms. We show that the variation in the molecular weight of the polymer molecules and their relative location with respect to the long side of the NRs resulted in two competing association modes of the nanorods, that is, their side-by-side and end-to-end assembly, and produced bundles, chains, rings, and bundled chains of the NRs.