A truncating PET100 variant causing fatal infantile lactic acidosis and isolated cytochrome c oxidase deficiency

Isolated mitochondrial complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase) deficiency is an important cause of mitochondrial disease in children and adults. It is genetically heterogeneous, given that both mtDNA-encoded and nuclear-encoded gene products contribute to structural components and assembly factors. Pathogenic variants within these proteins are associated with clinical variability ranging from isolated organ involvement to multisystem disease presentations. Defects in more than 10 complex IV assembly factors have been described including a recent Lebanese founder mutation in PET100 in patients presenting with Leigh syndrome. We report the clinical and molecular investigation of a patient with a fatal, neonatal-onset isolated complex IV deficiency associated with multiorgan involvement born to consanguineous, first-cousin British Asian parents. Exome sequencing revealed a homozygous truncating variant (c.142C>T, p.(Gln48*)) in the PET100 gene that results in a complete loss of enzyme activity and assembly of the holocomplex. Our report confirms PET100 mutation as an important cause of isolated complex IV deficiency outside of the Lebanese population, extending the phenotypic spectrum associated with abnormalities within this gene.     

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in chronic hepatitis C of children

SUMMARY. Several hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes have been recently identified and genotype 1b has been correlated with severe liver disease and a poor response to interferon therapy. HCV infection in children is an interesting model for evaluation of the relationship between HCV genotypes and liver disease, because of its relatively short duration and the infrequent association with confounding cofactors. We have investigated HCV genotypes, using a dot-blot hybridization assay with genotype-specific probes, in 36 Italian children with chronic hepatitis C who were otherwise well and had no other underlying disease. Only four patients were symptomatic; liver histology, obtained in 3 3 patients, showed minimal hepatitis in 17 and mild chronic hepatitis in 16. Infection with HCV genotype Ib was found in 55.5% of patients, with a peak prevalence of 83% in children from southern Italy (P < 0.05 vs other regions). The remaining children were infected with HCV genotype la (16.6%), genotype 2 (11.1%). and mixed (10.9%) or undetermined (2.7%) genotypes. In one patient, HCV viraemia was never detected. There was no statistically significant correlation between genotype and age, sex, source of infection, alanine aminotransferase pattern and histological activity index. These results indicate that genotype 1b is widespread among Italian children with chronic hepatitis C, although with significant geographical variations. It is not associated with a more severe liver disease, therefore suggesting that the greater severity of liver disease recently reported in adults could reflect the cumulative effects of disease duration and of interfering cofactors.     

Monocytoid B-cell lymphoma: its evolution and relationship to other low- grade B-cell neoplasms

Monocytoid B-cell lymphoma (MBCL) is a newly recognized B-cell neoplasm of uncertain histogenesis. The cytologic features of the neoplastic monocytoid B lymphocytes are virtually identical to those of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). As with HCL, progression of MBCL to a higher histologic grade is very unusual. However, whereas circulating leukemic cells are a characteristic feature of HCL, peripheral blood involvement has not been reported in MBCL. We recently studied a patient with MBCL of the spleen and axillary lymph nodes who developed peripheral blood involvement by MBCL cells. Unlike the cells of HCL, the circulating MBCL cells exhibited strong acid phosphatase activity that was tartrate sensitive. The leukemic cells had the antigenic phenotype IgM lambda, CD20+, CD11c+, CD5-, CD25(TAC)-, and PCA-1-. Immunogenetic studies of both lymph node and peripheral blood cells revealed identical immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangements. When compared with a series of HCL, the immunophenotype was similar except for the absence of PCA-1 and TAC. Progression of the MBCL to a large cell lymphoma, also expressing IgM lambda, was documented in an abdominal lymph node of this patient. Therefore, although rare, peripheral blood involvement by lymphoma cells may occur during the course of MBCL and should be distinguished from HCL with cytochemical and immunophenotypic studies. In addition, comparison of the clinical, pathologic, and immunologic features of MBCL with those of other low-grade B-cell neoplasms suggests that a close lineage relationship exists between MBCL and HCL.     

Treatment with interleukin-3 plus granulocyte-macrophage colony- stimulating factors improves the selectivity of Ara-C in vitro against acute myeloid leukemia blasts

Hematopoietic growth factors (HGFs) interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) individually have been shown to increase the percentage of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts in S phase and enhance the cytotoxic effects of Ara-C against these blasts in culture. We compared in vitro the effects of a combined treatment with GM-CSF (10 ng/mL) plus IL-3 (10 ng/mL) on the metabolism and cytotoxicity of Ara-C in normal bone marrow mononuclear cells (NBMMC) and AML blasts. NBMMC from six healthy volunteers and AML blasts from 10 patients were incubated for 20 hours with or without IL- 3 plus GM-CSF, followed by a concurrent treatment with Ara-C for 4 additional hours. Exposure to the HGFs and Ara-C produced significantly higher intracellular Ara-CTP levels as well as higher Ara-CTP/dCTP pool ratios in AML blasts as compared with NBMMC. Treatment with HGFs resulted in [3H] Ara-C DNA incorporation that was significantly higher in AML blasts versus NBMMC. This selective improvement of Ara-C metabolism in AML blasts was associated with an enhanced Ara-C-mediated leukemia colony-forming unit (CFU) growth inhibition. In contrast, exposure to HGFs resulted in an improved colony growth of normal CFU granulocyte-monocyte and CFU-granulocyte, erythroid, monocyte, megakaryocyte. These in vitro studies indicate that a combined treatment with IL-3 plus GM-CSF may improve the selectivity of Ara-C against AML blasts.     

Development of large numbers of mast cells at sites of idiopathic chronic dermatitis in genetically mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv mice

The normal skin and other tissues of adult mast cell-deficient WBB6F1- W/Wv or WCB6F1-Sl/Sld mice contain less than 1.0% the number of mast cells present in the corresponding tissues of the congenic normal (+/+) mice. As a result, genetically mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv or WCB6F1-Sl/Sld mice are widely used for studies of mast cell differentiation and function. We found that mast cells developed at sites of idiopathic chronic dermatitis in WBB6F1-W/Wv mice and that the number of mast cells present in the skin of WBB6F1-W/Wv mice was proportional to the severity of the dermatitis (in ear skin, there were 33 +/- 4 mast cells/mm2 of dermis at sites of severe dermatitis v 9 +/- 3 at sites of mild dermatitis, 0.8 +/- 0.3 in skin without dermatitis, and 100 +/- 7 in the normal skin of congenic WBB6F1-+/+ mice; in back skin, the corresponding values were 2.0 +/- 0.6, 1.1 +/- 0.9, 0.025 +/- 0.025, and 26.2 +/- 3.2). The development of mast cells was a local, not systemic, consequence of the dermatitis. Thus, WBB6F1-W/Wv mice with severe dermatitis lacked mast cells in skin not showing signs of dermatitis and also in the peritoneal cavity, stomach, cecum, and tongue. Idiopathic chronic dermatitis was not associated with the local development of mast cells in WCB6F1-Sl/Sld mice, a mutant whose mast cell deficiency is due to a mechanism distinct from that of WBB6F1-W/Wv mice. These findings may have implications for understanding the nature of the mast cell deficiency in WBB6F1-W/Wv and WCB6F1-Sl/Sld mice and for the use of these mutants to analyze mast cell differentiation and function.