Empiric anti-Giardia therapy in non-diarrheal protein-losing enteropathy: A focus on children with monogenic humoral immunodeficiency.

Background and Aim: Chronic giardia infection can lead to non-erosive gastrointestinal disorders, including protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). This report describes non-diarrheal PLE in chronic giardiasis in children with defective humoral immunity. Methods: The retrospective report is related to 2 children known to have a monogenic inborn error of immunity. The first patient is a 13-year-old boy with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (Patient-1), and the second is a 5-year-old boy with NF-kB inducing kinase (NIK) deficiency infection. Frequency, growth status, and serum immunoglobulin-G (IgG) trough and albumin levels were monitored (Patient-2). Results: Patient-1 had more frequency of pneumonia but reported no symptoms of gastrointestinal disease, including alteration of bowel habits, change in stool consistency, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, bloating, and abdominal pain. No clinical oedema on examination. His weight remains static at 19-20 kg for about 1.5 years. Simultaneously, hypoproteinaemia was noted (Figure-1). A trial of increasing IVIG (0.7 - 1 g/kg) and the use of subcutaneous immunoglobulin (0.2 g/kg) did not reverse the biochemical and clinical situation. Hypoproteinaemia workup revealed normal liver and kidney functions, normal cardiac function, and no proteinuria. Interestingly, his upper endoscopy showed mild duodenitis and the presence of giardia lamblia at the luminal surface (Figure-2). Following this, a 2-week course of oral metronidazole (7.5 mg/kg/dose BID) resulted in a restoration of therapeutic serum IgG trough and albumin levels. Additionally, the child's nutritional status improved, and the frequency of respiratory infections dropped. In Patient-2, progressive hypoproteinaemia was noted over nine months. Similarly, no gastrointestinal complaints; however, the family reported foul-smelling semisolid stools with regular consistency. His IgG trough level was 2 g/l, and his albumin level was 20 g/l. Despite maximizing IVIG, he developed two episodes of pneumonia and once otitis media. An empiric oral metronidazole course resulted in the amelioration of symptoms and restoration of proteinemia. Meanwhile, faeces microscopy confirmed the presence of Giardia lamblia. Conclusions: Progressive hypoproteinaemia in children with humoral immunodeficiency is a clinical concern. Routine stool microscopy can identify giardia infection despite the ambiguity of gastrointestinal symptoms in such patients. However, a trial of empiric metronidazole therapy should be considered.

Immune Dysregulation in Monogenic Inborn Errors of Immunity in Oman: Over A Decade of Experience From a Single Tertiary Center.

Background: Inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) are being recognized as an important cause of morbidity and mortality in communities with a high frequency of consanguinity, such as Oman, and thus recessively inherited conditions. Various monogenic causes of IEI have been recently discovered; however, the disease phenotype may be variable and does not always include infection at presentation, leading to a delay in diagnosis and a poor outcome. It is now well recognized that immune dysregulation manifestations are observed in a significant proportion of patients with IEI and occasionally precede infection. Methods: Here, we retrospectively report the epidemiological, clinical, immunological, and molecular findings and outcomes from 239 patients with IEI who were diagnosed and managed at the Royal Hospital, Oman, from January 2010 to October 2021. Results: The estimated annual cumulative mean incidence of IEI was 25.5 per 100,000 Omani live births with a total prevalence of 15.5 per 100,000 Omani population. Both the high incidence and prevalence are attributed to the high rate of consanguinity (78.2%). Defects affecting cellular and humoral immunity including severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), combined immunodeficiency (CID), and CID with syndromic features were the predominant defects in IEI (36%). Immune dysregulation was a prominent manifestation and occurred in approximately a third of all patients with IEI (32%), with a mean age of onset of 81 months and a mean diagnostic delay of 50.8 months. The largest percentage of patients who showed such clinical signs were in the category of diseases of immune dysregulation (41%), followed by predominantly antibody deficiency (18%). The overall mortality rate in our cohort was 25.1%, with higher death rates seen in CID including SCID and diseases of immune dysregulation. Conclusion: Immune dysregulation is a frequent manifestation of Omani patients with IEI. Early detection through raising awareness of signs of IEI including those of immune dysregulation and implementation of newborn screening programs will result in early intervention and improved overall outcome.

A Novel SPINK5 Gene Mutation Associated with Netherton Syndrome in an Omani Patient.

Netherton syndrome (NS) is an autosomal recessive primary immunodeficiency. It is characterised by substantial skin barrier defects and is often misdiagnosed as severe atopic dermatitis or hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome. Although more than 80 NS-associated pathogenic mutations in the serine peptidase inhibitor kazal type 5 (SPINK5) gene have been reported worldwide, only one has been reported in the Arab population to date. We report the case of a novel association between the c.1887+1G>A mutation in the SPINK5 gene and NS in an Omani-Arab patient born in 2014 who was managed at a paediatric immunology clinic in Muscat, Oman. Accurate genetic diagnosis facilitated tailored clinical management of the index patient and enabled the provision of genetic counselling and offering of future reproductive options to the individuals related to the index patient.

A Decade Experience on Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Phenotype in Oman, Bridging to Newborn Screening.

Introduction: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) results from various monogenic defects that impair immune function and brings on early severe and life-threatening infections. The main stay of treatment for SCID is hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) with near normal survival at 5 years for an early transplant done at or before the age of 3.5 months of life and the patient is maintained free of infections. Although overall rare, it constitutes a major burden on affected children, their families and on the health system especially in communities with a high rate of consanguinity where incidence and prevalence of recessive inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are expected to be high. Method: Here, we report the clinical, immunological, and molecular findings in 36 children diagnosed with SCID from a single tertiary center in Oman for the last decade. Results: We observed a median annual incidence rate of 4.5 per 100,000 Omani live births, and 91.7% of affected children were born to consanguineous parents. Twenty-three children (63.9%) fulfilled the criteria for typical SCID. The median age at onset, diagnosis and diagnostic delay were 54, 135, and 68 days, respectively. The most common clinical manifestations were pneumonia, septicemia, and chronic diarrhea. Eleven children (30.6%) have received hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) with a survival rate of 73%. The most frequent genetic cause of SCID in this cohort (n = 36) was (RAG-1), encoding for recombination activating gene (n = 5, 13.9%). Similarly, Major histocompatibility complex type II deficiency accounted for (n = 5, 13.9%) of our cohort. Conclusion: Our report broadens the knowledge of clinical and molecular manifestations in children with SCID in the region and highlights the need to initiate newborn based screening program (NBS) program.