Search Results (7)

Pompe disease (PD) is a monogenic autosomal recessive disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic variants of the GAA gene encoding lysosomal alpha-glucosidase; its loss causes glycogen storage in lysosomes, mainly in the muscular tissue. The genotype–phenotype correlation has been extensively discussed, and caution is recommended when interpreting the clinical significance of any mutation in a single patient. As there is no evidence that environmental factors can modulate the phenotype, the observed clinical variability in PD suggests that genetic variants other than pathogenic GAA mutations influence the mechanisms of muscle damage/repair and the overall clinical picture. Genes encoding proteins involved in glycogen synthesis and catabolism may represent excellent candidates as phenotypic modifiers of PD. The genes analyzed for glycogen synthesis included UGP2, glycogenin (GYG1-muscle, GYG2, and other tissues), glycogen synthase (GYS1-muscle and GYS2-liver), GBE1, EPM2A, NHLRC1, GSK3A, and GSK3B. The only enzyme involved in glycogen catabolism in lysosomes is α-glucosidase, which is encoded by GAA, while two cytoplasmic enzymes, phosphorylase (PYGB-brain, PGL-liver, and PYGM-muscle) and glycogen debranching (AGL) are needed to obtain glucose 1-phosphate or free glucose. Here, we report the potentially relevant variants in genes related to glycogen synthesis and catabolism, identified by whole exome sequencing in a group of 30 patients with late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD). In our exploratory analysis, we observed a reduced number of variants in the genes expressed in muscles versus the genes expressed in other tissues, but we did not find a single variant that strongly affected the phenotype. From our work, it also appears that the current clinical scores used in LOPD do not describe muscle impairment with enough qualitative/quantitative details to correlate it with genes that, even with a slightly reduced function due to genetic variants, impact the phenotype. Full article

Classic infantile Pompe disease (IPD) is a rare lysosomal storage disorder characterized by severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and profound muscle weakness. Without treatment, death occurs within the first 2 years of life. Although enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with alglucosidase alfa has improved survival, treatment outcome is not good in many cases and is largely dependent on age at initiation. The objective of the study was (a) to analyse the different stages in the diagnosis and specific treatment initiation procedure in IPD patients, and (b) to compare clinical and biochemical outcomes depending on age at ERT initiation (<1 month of age vs. <3 months of age). Here, we show satisfactory clinical and biochemical outcomes in two IPD patients after early treatment initiation before 3 months of life with immunomodulatory therapy in the ERT-naïve setting, with a high ERT dose from the beginning. Despite the overall good evolution, the patient who initiated treatment <1 month of life presented even better outcomes than the patient who started treatment <3 months of life, with an earlier normalization of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, along with CK normalization, highlighting the importance of early treatment initiation in this progressive disease before irreversible muscle damage has occurred. Full article

Lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) are a heterogeneous group of approximately 70 monogenic metabolic disorders whose diagnosis represents an arduous challenge for clinicians due to their variability in phenotype penetrance, clinical manifestations, and high allelic heterogeneity. In recent years, the approval of disease-specific therapies and the rapid emergence of novel rapid diagnostic methods has opened, for a set of selected LSDs, the possibility for inclusion in extensive national newborn screening (NBS) programs. Herein, we evaluated the clinical utility and diagnostic validity of a targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) panel (called NBS_LSDs), designed ad hoc to scan the coding regions of six genes (GBA, GAA, SMPD1, IDUA1, GLA, GALC) relevant for a group of LSDs candidate for inclusion in national NBS programs (MPSI, Pompe, Fabry, Krabbe, Niemann Pick A-B and Gaucher diseases). A standard group of 15 samples with previously known genetic mutations was used to test and validate the entire flowchart. Analytical accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, as well as turnaround time and costs, were assessed. Results showed that the Ion AmpliSeq and Ion Chef System-based high-throughput NBS_LSDs tNGS panel is a fast, accurate, and cost-effective process. The introduction of this technology into routine NBS procedures as a second-tier test along with primary biochemical assays will allow facilitating the identification and management of selected LSDs and reducing diagnostic delay. Full article

Ordinal patterns classifying real vectors according to the order relations between their components are an interesting basic concept for determining the complexity of a measure-preserving dynamical system. In particular, as shown by C. Bandt, G. Keller and B. Pompe, the permutation entropy based on the probability distributions of such patterns is equal to Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy in simple one-dimensional systems. The general reason for this is that, roughly speaking, the system of ordinal patterns obtained for a real-valued “measuring arrangement” has high potential for separating orbits. Starting from a slightly different approach of A. Antoniouk, K. Keller and S. Maksymenko, we discuss the generalizations of ordinal patterns providing enough separation to determine the Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy. For defining these generalized ordinal patterns, the idea is to substitute the basic binary relation ≤ on the real numbers by another binary relation. Generalizing the former results of I. Stolz and K. Keller, we establish conditions that the binary relation and the dynamical system have to fulfill so that the obtained generalized ordinal patterns can be used for estimating the Kolmogorov–Sinai entropy. Full article

Glaucoma, the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness, is a complex disease, with differential presentation as well as ethnic and geographic disparities. The multifactorial nature of glaucoma complicates the study of genetics and genetic involvement in the disease process. This review synthesizes the current literature on glaucoma and genetics, as stratified by glaucoma subtype and ethnicity. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common cause of glaucoma worldwide, with the only treatable risk factor (RF) being the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP). Genes associated with elevated IOP or POAG risk include: ABCA1, AFAP1, ARHGEF12, ATXN2, CAV1, CDKN2B-AS1, FOXC1, GAS7, GMDS, SIX1/SIX6, TMCO1, and TXNRD2. However, there are variations in RF and genetic factors based on ethnic and geographic differences; it is clear that unified molecular pathways accounting for POAG pathogenesis remain uncertain, although inflammation and senescence likely play an important role. There are similar ethnic and geographic complexities in primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG), but several genes have been associated with this disorder, including MMP9, HGF, HSP70, MFRP, and eNOS. In exfoliation glaucoma (XFG), genes implicated include LOXL1, CACNA1A, POMP, TMEM136, AGPAT1, RBMS3, and SEMA6A. Despite tremendous progress, major gaps remain in resolving the genetic architecture for the various glaucoma subtypes across ancestries. Large scale carefully designed studies are required to advance understanding of genetic loci as RF in glaucoma pathophysiology and to improve diagnosis and treatment options. Full article

Pompe disease (PD) is screened by a two tier newborn screening (NBS) algorithm, the first tier of which is an enzymatic assay performed on newborn dried blood spots (DBS). As first tier enzymatic screening tests have false positive results, an immediate second tier test on the same sample is critical in resolving newborn health status. Two methodologies have been proposed for second tier testing: (a) measurement of enzymatic activities such as of Creatine/Creatinine over alpha-glucosidase ratio, and (b) DNA sequencing (a molecular genetics approach), such as targeted next generation sequencing. (tNGS). In this review, we discuss the tNGS approach, as well as the challenges in providing second tier screening and follow-up care. While tNGS can predict genotype-phenotype effects when known, these advantages may be diminished when the variants are novel, of unknown significance or not discoverable by current test methodologies. Due to the fact that criticisms of screening algorithms that utilize tNGS are based on perceived complexities, including variant detection and interpretation, we clarify the actual limitations and present the rationale that supports optimizing a molecular genetic testing approach with tNGS. Second tier tNGS can benefit clinical decision-making through the use of the initial NBS DBS punch and rapid turn-around time methodology for tNGS, that includes copy number variant analysis, variant effect prediction, and variant ‘cut-off’ tools for the reduction of false positive results. The availability of DNA sequence data will contribute to the improved understanding of genotype-phenotype associations and application of treatment. The ultimate goal of second tier testing should enable the earliest possible diagnosis for the earliest initiation of the most effective clinical interventions in infants with PD. Full article

In a previous study, we used bacterial flagellin to deliver antigens such as p27 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to a host immune system and obtained a potent Th1 responsecompared to those obtained with Freund’s adjuvant and DNA immunization. In the current study, using a POMP91B antigen of Chlamydophila abortus, a human and animal pathogen, as a model, we found that this antigen is unable to promote Th1 response. However, this antigen, unlike others, was able to induce a good Th2 response and IL-4 production after immunization by recombinant protein in Freund’s adjuvant or in phosphate buffered saline. Our results suggest that immune response is not only dependent on the immunization adjuvant, but also dependent on the nature of antigen used. Full article