Congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ia: a clinicopathological report of a newborn infant with cerebellar pathology

Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) represent a newly delineated group of inherited multisystem disorders characterized by defective glycoprotein biosynthesis. In the present study we report and discuss the clinical and neuropathological findings in a newborn with CDG type Ia (CDG-Ia). The patient presented mild dysmorphic facial features, inverted nipples, progressive generalized edema, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, muscular hypotonia and had severe hypoalbuminemia. Deficiency of phosphomannomutase (PMM)-2 activity was detected. Molecular analysis showed V231M/T237R mutations of the PMM2 gene. Muscular biopsy, disclosed myopathic alterations with myofibrillar disarray by electron microscopy. The patient died at 1 month of age of circulatory and respiratory failure. Autopsy showed liver fibrosis and renal abnormalities. Neuropathological abnormalities were mainly confined to the cerebellum. Histological and immunocytochemical examination of cerebellar tissue showed partial atrophy of cerebellar folia with severe loss of Purkinje cells, granular cell depletion and various morphological changes in the remaining Purkinje cells and their dendritic arborization. Autopsy findings confirm the complexity of the CDG-Ia syndrome, and indicate that CDG-Ia is a distinct disease entity, which can be differentiated from other neurological disorders and other types of CDG, not only clinically, but also based on unique pathological findings. The data proved useful in determining the underlying disease process associated with a defective N-glycosylation pathway.     

Tissue distribution of the murine phosphomannomutases Pmm1 and Pmm2 during brain development

The most common type of the congenital disorders of glycosylation, CDG-Ia, is caused by mutations in the human PMM2 gene, reducing phosphomannomutase (PMM) activity. The PMM2 mutations mainly lead to neurological symptoms, while other tissues are only variably affected. Another phosphomannomutase, PMM1, is present at high levels in the brain. This raises the question why PMM1 does not compensate for the reduced PMM2 activity during CDG-Ia pathogenesis. We compared the expression profile of the murine Pmm1 and Pmm2 mRNA and protein in prenatal and postnatal mouse brain at the histological level. We observed a considerable expression of both Pmms in different regions of the embryonic and adult mouse brain. Surprisingly, the expression patterns were largely overlapping. This data indicates that expression differences on the cellular and tissue level are an unlikely explanation for the absence of functional compensation. These results suggest that Pmm1 in vivo does not exert the phosphomannomutase-like activity seen in biochemical assays, but either acts on as yet unidentified specific substrates or fulfils entirely different functions.     

Missense mutations in the phosphomannomutase 2 gene of two Japanese siblings with carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome type I.

Carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome type I (CDG1) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by severe nervous system involvement and a carbohydrate moiety deficiency in N-linked glycoproteins. Clinical symptoms are psychomotor retardation, stroke-like episodes or hemorrhagic episodes, hepatic dysfunction, polyneuropathy, and cerebellar ataxia. Marked atrophy of the cerebellar hemispheres and pons is recognizable on CT scan or MRI. CDGI has been mapped to human chromosome 16p by linkage studies. Recently, missense mutations in the gene for phosphomannomutase (PMM2) have been detected in Caucasian patients with CDG1. We studied DNA mutations in PMM2 in a Japanese family with CDG1. DNA sequencing of PMM2 in the siblings showed missense mutations of maternal origin in exon 5 and of paternal origin in exon 8. No such mutations were detected in 50 unrelated healthy Japanese. These findings suggest that the PMM2 is responsible for CDG1 in the Japanese as well as in Caucasians, and CDG1 may be the diagnosis in OPCA of neonatal onset, more often than currently thought.     

Mild Clinical and Biochemical Phenotype in Two Patients with PMM2-CDG (Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation Ia)

Phosphomannomutase 2 deficiency (PMM2-CDG) patients may present as mild phenotypes, with the cerebellum frequently involved. In those cases, false-negative results in screening may occur when applying conventional biochemical procedures. Our aim was to report two patients with a diagnosis of PMM2-CDG presenting with mild clinical phenotype. Patient 1—at 9 months of age, she presented with just psychomotor delay, tremor, hypotonia, and slight lipodystrophy. Patient 2—she presented at 8 months of age with psychomotor delay, hand stereotypes, hypotonia, convergent bilateral strabismus, and tremor but no lipodystrophy. Routine biochemical parameters including blood count, clotting factors, proteins, and thyroid hormone were normal in both cases. Cranial MRI evidenced mild cerebellar atrophy with moderate vermis hypoplasia. In case 1, sialotransferrin pattern showed very slightly increased disialotransferrin with no asialotransferrin, and in case 2, the transferrin pattern was impaired in the first study but nearly normal in the second. Nevertheless, in all the samples, quantification of the patterns obtained by capillary zone electrophoresis analysis gave results out of the control range. High residual PMM2 activity was observed in both cases and the genetic analysis showed that patient 1 was heterozygous for c.722G>C (p.C241S) and c.368G>A (p.R123Q) mutations, and patient 2 showed the c.722G>C and the c.470T>C (p.F157S) mutations in the PMM2 gene. We would like to stress the importance of the use of sensitive semiquantitative methods of screening for CDG in order to achieve early identification of patients with mild phenotypes. Intentional tremor was an atypical but remarkable clinical feature in both cases, and the global cerebellar atrophy with vermis hypoplasia reinforced the early clinical suspicion of a PMM2-CDG disease.     

Clinical and biochemical characteristics of congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ic, the first recognized endoplasmic reticulum defect in N-glycan synthesis

We report on 8 patients with a recently described novel subtype of congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ic (CDG-Ic). Their clinical presentation was mainly neurological with developmental retardation, muscular hypotonia, and epilepsy. Several symptoms commonly seen in CDG-Ia such as inverted nipples, abnormal fat distribution, and cerebellar hypoplasia were not observed. The clinical course is milder overall, with a better neurological outcome, than in CDG-Ia. The isoelectric focusing pattern of serum transferrin in CDG-Ia and CDG-Ic is indistinguishable. Interestingly, beta-trace protein in cerebrospinal fluid derived from immunoblot analysis of the brain showed a less pronounced hypoglycosylation pattern in CDG-Ic patients than in CDG-Ia patients. Analysis of lipid-linked oligosaccharides revealed an accumulation of Man9GlcNAc2 intermediates due to dolichol pyrophosphate-Man9GlcNAc2 alpha-1,3 glucosyltransferase deficiency. All patients were homozygous for an A333V mutation.     

A mild juvenile variant of type IV glycogenosis.

The mild juvenile form of type IV glycogenosis, confirmed by a profound deficiency of the brancher enzyme in tissue specimens is reported from three Turkish male siblings who, foremost, suffered from chronic progressive myopathy. Muscle fibers contained polyglucosan inclusions of typical fine structure i.e. a mixture of granular and filamentous glycogen. They reacted strongly for myophosphorylase, but were resistant to diastase. These inclusions were ubiquitinated and reacted with antibody KM-279 which previously has been shown to bind to Lafora bodies, corpora amylacea and polyglucosan material in hepatic and cardiac cells of type IV glycogenosis as well as polyglucosan body myopathy without brancher enzyme deficiency. Our findings confirm that although rate, a mild form of type IV glycogenosis is marked by polyglucosan inclusion not only in myofibers, but also in smooth muscle and sweat gland epithelial cells. This further implies that when polyglucosan inclusions are observed within myofibers it is mandatory to examine the muscle tissue for brancher enzyme activity since the brancher enzyme activities in circulating erythrocytes and leucocytes were normal in all three affected siblings and their parents. Therefore, it can be concluded that the patients reported on here represent a variant form of type IV glycogenosis, in which the defect is limited to muscle tissue. This further indicates that there are several different types of type IV glycogenosis with variable clinical manifestations.     

Sarcoglycan deficiency in a large Italian population of myopathic patients

Autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophies are a heterogeneous group of genetic diseases with a wide spectrum of clinical severity and age of onset; mutations in the gene encoding the dystrophin-associated sarcoglycan proteins (α, β, γ and δ) have recently been shown to cause some cases of these myopathies (primary sarcoglycanopathies, types 2D, 2E, 2C and 2F, respectively). In this study we have examined a large population of Italian myopathic patients to determine the frequency of α-, β- and γ-sarcoglycan deficiency and to correlate molecular defects with clinical phenotypes; to exclude the presence of primary dystrophinopathies both genetic and immunological analysis of dystrophin was performed. We report 12 patients (10 male and 2 female) with deficiency of either one or more sarcoglycan proteins. They were aged 8–56 years with onset between 4 and 30 years of age; they all presented with either mild, moderate or severe limb-girdle involvement associated with elevated blood creatine kinase levels and myopathic pattern at EMG; one was also affected with a mild dilation cardiomyopathy. All patients, except one, showed pathological muscle histological changes. Absence of all three proteins always correlates with severe forms, whereas mild protein deficiencies or isolated partial α-sarcoglycan deficiency correlate with either severe, moderate or mild forms. Received: 31 July 1997 / Revised: 12 December 1997, 23 March 1998 / Accepted: 3 May 1998     

Successful carnitine treatment in two siblings having lipid storage myopathy with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Two Japanese siblings had lipid storage myopathy with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). They had slowly progressive muscle weakness and ventricular hypertrophy of the heart evidenced by electrocardiography and echocardiography. Their developmental milestones were normal until three years of age when mild weakness in the lower limbs became evident. Laboratory examination showed transient high creatine kinase levels (CK) and hyperammonemia. Histochemical investigation on the muscles revealed abnormal accumulation of sudanophilic lipid droplets predominantly in type 1 fibers, type 2 A fiber atrophy and type 2 B fiber deficiency. In case 1, excessive lipid droplets were also observed in the biopsied cardiac muscle. Carnitine was decreased in the skeletal muscles and the serum. Treatment with DL-carnitine to both cases resulted in marked clinical improvement and decreased lipid droplets in the muscles.     

Inherited factor VII deficiency: identification of two novel mutations (A191V and T239P) in the catalytic domain

We describe here five F7 mutations found in four patients without bleeding history, despite constitutional coagulation Factor VII (FVII) deficiency. All five mutations are missense and affect the catalytic domain of FVII (A191T, A191V, T239P, R224Q and M298I). The A191V and T239P mutations are novel and were found in homozygous patients with no clinical bleeding tendency. The patient diagnosed with the A191V mutation had a phenotype corresponding to a moderate type 1 FVII deficiency (FVII:C 4%, FVII:Ag 5%). The T239P mutation was found in a patient with mild type 2 FVII deficiency (FVII:C 25%, FVII:Ag 95%). Novel mutations are both in close vicinity to the charge-stabilizing system of FVII. Modeling studies allow understanding in part the molecular basis for the loss of function.     

The phenotypic spectrum of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ARHGEF9</Emphasis> includes intellectual disability,focal epilepsy and febrile seizures

Mutations or structural genomic alterations of the X-chromosomal gene ARHGEF9 have been described in male and female patients with intellectual disability. Hyperekplexia and epilepsy were observed to a variable degree, but incompletely described. Here, we expand the phenotypic spectrum of ARHGEF9 by describing a large Ethiopian-Jewish family with epilepsy and intellectual disability. The four affected male siblings, their unaffected parents and two unaffected female siblings were recruited and phenotyped. Parametric linkage analysis was performed using SNP microarrays. Variants from exome sequencing in two affected individuals were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. All affected male siblings had febrile seizures from age 2–3 years and intellectual disability. Three developed afebrile seizures between age 7–17 years. Three showed focal seizure semiology. None had hyperekplexia. A novel ARHGEF9 variant (c.967G>A, p.G323R, NM_015185.2) was hemizygous in all affected male siblings and heterozygous in the mother. This family reveals that the phenotypic spectrum of ARHGEF9 is broader than commonly assumed and includes febrile seizures and focal epilepsy with intellectual disability in the absence of hyperekplexia or other clinically distinguishing features. Our findings suggest that pathogenic variants in ARHGEF9 may be more common than previously assumed in patients with intellectual disability and mild epilepsy.     

Congenital disorder of glycosylation-Ic: case report and genetic defect

The clinical phenotype and the molecular defect of a patient with a new subtype of congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG-Ic, formerly designated as CDGS type V) characterized by a deficiency of Dol-P-Glc: Man9GlcNAc2-PP-Dol glucosyltransferase is described. The clinical picture presents with several features similar to CDG-Ia (phosphomannomutase 2 deficiency) such as hypotonia and atactic-dystonic movements. In contrast to CDG-Ia, the course of the disease appears milder. The head growth, the functioning of the peripheral nerves and the initial cerebellar development were normal. Sequencing of the patient's Dol-P-Glc: Man9GlcNAc2-PP-Dol glucosyltransferase cDNA revealed an in-frame deletion of three nucleotides leading to the loss of isoleucine 299.     

D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria and glutaric aciduria type 1 in siblings: coincidence, or linked disorders?

Glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1) and D-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria ( D-2-HGA) are cerebral organic acidurias characterized by the excretion of 3-hydroxyglutaric and D-2-hydroxyglutaric acids, respectively. GA1 is caused by a deficiency of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase encoded by the GCDH gene; the biochemical and genetic basis of D-2-HGA is unknown. We diagnosed GA1 in the son of consanguineous Palestinian parents, and D-2-HGA in his sister and brother. All three siblings were neurologically and developmentally normal. A small but abnormal increase in excretion of D-2-hydroxyglutaric acid was also found in the sibling with GA1. These observations suggested a possible pathophysiological link between these two disorders. The sibling with GA1 was homozygous whilst his siblings with D-2-HGA were heterozygous for a 1283 C>T missense mutation (T416I) in exon 11 of the GCDH gene. However, sequence analysis of the GCDH gene in 8 additional unrelated patients with D-2-HGA and 3 with combined D/ L-2-HGA did not reveal any pathogenic mutations. The biochemical and genetic basis of D-2-HGA remains to be determined.     

Sleep quality in a family with hereditary parkinsonism (PARK6)

OBJECTIVES: The autosomal recessive disorder PARK6 manifests as early-onset Parkinson's disease (PD) with a particularly mild progression. PARK6 is of particular scientific interest, since it is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the mitochondrial protein kinase PINK1 and may thus serve as a model for oxidative damage in PD and in other basal ganglia disorders. Sleep disturbances are very common in PD but have not yet been reported for PARK6 patients. The present study reports on sleep of a Spanish family with PARK6. Of the 5 siblings, 3 were homozygous and severely affected, and 2 were heterozygous and clinically asymptomatic. Research questions concerned possible differences in sleep recordings between homozygote and heterozygote siblings and similarities between PARK6 and sporadic PD sleep profiles. METHOD: The data from detailed clinical interviews of the patients and their bedpartners are reported and compared with polysomnographic data from second-night recordings. CONCLUSIONS: All siblings had good subjective and objective sleep quality. Restless legs syndrome and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) were not observed, suggesting that sleep disturbances are not commonly found in PARK6 patients. Good sleep quality and the absence of RBD might be a useful diagnostic guide in the differential diagnosis of sporadic PD versus PARK6.     

Clinical, multimodal electrophysiological study of a family with progressive cerebellar ataxia and late deafness and an autosomal recessive inheritance]

We described the clinical, electrophysiological (electromyography, sensory and motor nerve conduction study, somatosensory evoked potentials, brainstem auditory evoked potentials, visual evoked potentials) and neuroradiological (brain magnetic resonance) data in 3 siblings (2 males and 1 female, age range: 54-48 years) affected by autosomal recessive late onset cerebellar ataxia. The 3 patients showed at the electrophysiological examination: mild peripheral neuropathy, involvement of somatosensory pathways both on central and peripheral side. A mild cerebellar atrophy, most evident in the female more severely disabled, was found by magnetic resonance.     

On the genetics of complex partial seizures: waking and sleep EEGs in siblings

Waking and sleep EEGs were recorded in 29 siblings of 19 patients with complex partial seizures. At least 1 sibling with epileptic activity (EA) was found for 36.8% of the patients. Taking the 29 siblings as a basis, in 7 EA was recorded. Most EA was seen during sleep in stage C (29%). More EA was recorded in female siblings (28% :18%) and in siblings of female patients (56% :20%). All EA was seen in the age range 5–14 years. Siblings with occipital theta-delta activity with a generalization tendency showed more EA (59%) than those without this pattern (8%). Of the siblings of patients with generalized EA 50% showed EA, but only 25% of those of patients with localized EEG patterns.     

Frequent mutations in Japanese patients with acid maltase deficiency

We screened 22 Japanese patients with acid maltase deficiency (seven with the infantile type, eight with the juvenile type and seven with the adult type) for three previously described mutations, D645E, S529V and R672Q, and a novel mutation, R600C. Although D645E has been reported to be common in Chinese patients with the infantile type, only three of 44 alleles (two of 14 infantile type alleles) from Japanese patients harbored the D645E mutation. The S529V mutation was identified in six of 14 alleles from adult-onset patients. None of the infantile or juvenile patients harbored the S529V mutation. Therefore, S529V apparently results in the adult type disease and is common in Japanese adult-onset patients. R672Q was identified in two pairs of siblings with the juvenile type. A novel mutation, R600C, was identified in eight of 22 patients (nine of 44 alleles). Therefore, R600C is another common Japanese mutation occurring at a CpG dinucleotide “hot spot”. Homozygosity for this mutation apparently results in the infantile phenotype. Genetic diagnosis by detecting these four mutations might be feasible for most Japanese patients with acid maltase deficiency.     

Posterior column ataxia with retinitis pigmentosa in a Japanese family with a novel mutation in FLVCR1

Posterior column ataxia with retinitis pigmentosa (PCARP) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by retinitis pigmentosa and sensory ataxia. Previous studies of PCARP in two families showed a linkage to 1q31–q32. However, detailed investigations on the clinical presentations as well as molecular genetics of PCARP have been limited. Here, we describe a Japanese consanguineous family with PCARP. Two affected siblings suffered from childhood-onset retinitis pigmentosa and slowly progressive sensory ataxia. They also showed mild mental retardation, which has not been described in patients with PCARP. Parametric linkage analysis using high-density single nucleotide polymorphism arrays supported a linkage to the same locus. Target capture and high-throughput sequencing technologies revealed a novel homozygous c.1477G>C (G493R) mutation in FLVCR1, which cosegregated with the disease. A recent study has identified three independent mutations in FLVCR1 in the original and other families. Our results further confirmed that PCARP is caused by mutations in FLVCR1.     

Primary adhalin deficiency as a cause of muscular dystrophy in patients with normal dystrophin

In our experience, more than half of muscular dystrophy patients show a primary dystrophinopathy. The underlying cause of muscular dystrophy in the vast majority of patients with normal dystrophin is unknown. Recently, a French family with 4 young siblings showing a muscular dystrophy of unknown progression was shown to have a primary deficiency of ?adhalin,”? the 50-kd dystrophin-associated protein. Here we report the screening of the entire adhalin coding sequence in muscle biopsy specimens from 30 muscular dystrophy patients to (1) determine whether adhalin deficiency is restricted to the French population, (2) determine the incidence of adhalin deficiency in muscular dystrophy patients, and (3) characterize the clinical features and mutations in adhalin-deficient patients. We identified a single African-American girl with childhood-onset muscular dystrophy and adhalin gene mutations. We found her to be a compound heterozygote for two different mutations of the same amino acid (Arg98Cys; Arg98His), one of which was previously identified in the French family. Our results suggest that primary adhalin deficiency in patients with muscular dystrophy but normal dystrophin is relatively infrequent, and that adhalin-deficient patients are not restricted to the French population.     

Metabolic intolerance to exercise

Exercise intolerance (EI) is a frequent cause of medical attention, although it is sometimes difficult to come to a final diagnosis. However, there is a group of patients in whom EI is due to a metabolic dysfunction. McArdle's disease (type V glucogenosis) is due to myophosphorylase (MPL) deficiency. The ischemic exercise test shows a flat lactate curve. The most frequent mutations in the PYGM gene (MPL gene) in Spanish patients with MPL deficiency are R49X and W797R. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) II deficiency is invariably associated to repetitive episodes of myoglobinuria triggered by exercise, cold, fever or fasting. The diagnosis depends on the demonstration of CPT II deficiency in muscle. The most frequent mutation in the CPT2 gene is the S113L. Patients with muscle adenylate deaminase deficiency usually show either a mild myopathy or no symptom. The diagnosis is based on the absence of enzyme activity in muscle and the lack of rise of ammonia in the forearm ischemic exercise test. The mutation Q12X in the AMPD1 gene is strongly associated with the disease. Exercise intolerance is a common complaint in patients with mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) deficiencies, although it is often overshadowed by other symptoms and signs. Only recently we have come to appreciate that exercise intolerance can be the sole presentation of defects in the mtDNA, particularly in complex I, complex III, complex IV, or in some tRNAs. In addition, myoglobinuria can be observed in patients under statin treatment, particularly if associated with fibrates, due to an alteration in the assembly of the complex IV of the MRC.     

Allelic variations of glut-1 deficiency syndrome: the chinese experience

Glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome is characterized by infantile onset seizures, development delay, movement disorders, and acquired microcephaly. The phenotype includes allelic variants such as intermittent ataxia, choreoathetosis, dystonia, and alternating hemiplegia of childhood with or without epilepsy. Dystonias involve allelic variants of glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome. Three Chinese patients presented with paroxysmal behavioral disturbance, weakness, ataxia (especially after fasting), and exercise intolerance. Electroencephalogram findings did not correlate with clinical manifestations. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging produced normal results or mild hypomyelination. Hypoglycorrhachia was evident in all cases. Cerebrospinal fluid glucose ranged from 1.63-2.45 mmol/L. Erythrocyte 3-O-methyl-d-glucose uptake was decreased to 58% in patient 1. Three SLC2A1 disease-causing mutations (761delA, P383H, and R400C) were observed. No patient tolerated ketogenic diets. Two patients responded to frequent meals with snacks. Cerebrospinal fluid evaluation constitutes the diagnostic testing permitting early treatment of glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome. Early diagnosis and treatment improve prognoses.