Association between maternal blood or cord blood metal concentrations and catch-up growth in children born small for gestational age: an analysis by the Japan environment and children's study.

BACKGROUND: Catch-up growth issues among children born small for gestational age (SGA) present a substantial public health challenge. Prenatal exposure to heavy metals can cause adverse effects on birth weight. However, comprehensive studies on the accurate assessment of individual blood concentrations of heavy metals and their effect on the failure to achieve catch-up growth remain unavailable. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of uterine exposure to toxic metals cadmium, lead, and mercury and essential trace metals manganese and selenium at low concentrations on the postnatal growth of children born SGA. METHODS: Data on newborn birth size and other factors were obtained from the medical record transcripts and self-administered questionnaires of participants in the Japan Environment and Children's Study. The blood concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and manganese in pregnant women in their second or third trimester were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. These heavy metal concentrations were also assessed in pregnant women's cord blood. Furthermore, the relationship between each heavy metal and height measure/catch-up growth in SGA children aged 4 years was analyzed using linear and logistic regression methods. These models were adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: We studied 4683 mother-child pairings from 103,060 pregnancies included in the Japan Environment and Children's Study. Of these, 278 pairs were also analyzed using cord blood. At 3 and 4 years old, 10.7% and 9.0% of children who were born below the 10th percentile of body weight had height standard deviation scores (SDSs) below 2, respectively. Cord blood cadmium concentrations were associated with the inability to catch up in growth by 3 or 4 years old and the height SDS at 3 years old. In maternal blood, only manganese was positively associated with the height SDS of SGA children aged 2 years; however, it was not significantly associated with catch-up growth in these children. CONCLUSION: Cadmium exposure is associated with failed catch-up development in SGA children. These new findings could help identify children highly at risk of failing to catch up in growth, and could motivate the elimination of heavy metal (especially cadmium) pollution to improve SGA children's growth.

Brain structure alterations in girls with central precocious puberty.

Purpose: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is puberty that occurs at an unusually early age with several negative psychological outcomes. There is a paucity of data on the morphological characteristics of the brain in CPP. This study aimed to determine the structural differences in the brain of patients with CPP. Methods: We performed voxel- and surface-based morphometric analyses of 1.5 T T1-weighted brain images scanned from 15 girls with CPP and 13 age-matched non-CPP controls (NC). All patients with CPP were diagnosed by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were evaluated using Levene's test for equality of variances and a two-tailed unpaired t-test for equality of means. False discovery rate correction for multiple comparisons was applied using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. Results: Morphometric analyses of the brain scans identified 33 candidate measurements. Subsequently, increased thickness of the right precuneus was identified in the patients with CPP using general linear models and visualizations of cortical thickness with a t-statistical map and a random field theory map. Conclusion: The brain scans of the patients with CPP showed specific morphological differences to those of the control. The features of brain morphology in CPP identified in this study could contribute to further understanding the association between CPP and detrimental psychological outcomes.

Prevalence of Pseudohypoparathyroidism and Nonsurgical Hypoparathyroidism in Japan in 2017: A Nationwide Survey.

BACKGROUND: Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) and nonsurgical hypoparathyroidism (NS-HypoPT) are rare diseases with hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and high and low parathyroid hormone levels, respectively. In Japan, over 20 years have passed since the last survey on these diseases. We carried out a nationwide cross-sectional survey to estimate the prevalence of these diseases in 2018. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide mail-based survey targeting hospitals in 2018. From a total of 13,156 departments throughout Japan, including internal medicine, pediatrics, neurology, and psychiatry, 3,501 (27%) departments were selected using a stratified random sampling method. We asked each included department to report the number of patients with PHP and NS-HypoPT in 2017. RESULTS: The overall survey response rate was 52.0% (1,807 departments). The estimated number of patients with PHP and NS-HypoPT was 1,484 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1,143-1,825) and 2,304 (95% CI, 1,189-3,419), respectively; the prevalence per 100,000 population was 1.2 and 1.8, respectively. CONCLUSION: In this study, we generated estimates of the national prevalence of PHP and NS-HypoPT in Japan during 2017, which were found to be higher than those previously reported.

Two infants with mild, atypical clinical features of Kagami-Ogata syndrome caused by epimutation.

Kagami-Ogata syndrome (KOS) is an imprinting disorder characterized by polyhydramnios, bell-shaped thorax with coat-hanger appearance (curved ribs), respiratory distress, abdominal wall defects, and distinct facial features, together with intellectual developmental delay with special needs. Abnormal expression of the imprinted genes on chromosome 14q32.2 causes KOS. Epimutation with aberrant hypermethylation of the MEG3/DLK1: intergenic differentially methylated region (MEG3/DLK1:IG-DMR) and the MEG3:TSS-DMR is one of the etiologies of KOS. We report two infants with KOS caused by epimutation presenting with some characteristic clinical features, mild clinical course, and almost normal motor and intellectual development. Methylation analysis for ten DMRs related to major imprinting disorders using pyrosequencing with genomic DNA (gDNA) extracted from leukocytes showed abnormally increased methylation levels of the MEG3/DLK1:IG-DMR and MEG3:TSS-DMR in both patients, but lower than those in patients with paternal uniparental disomy chromosome 14 (upd(14)pat). The methylation levels in the DMRs other than both DMRs were within normal range. We also conducted methylation analysis for the MEG3/DLK1:IG-DMR and MEG3:TSS-DMR with gDNA extracted from nails and buccal cells of both patients. Methylation levels in the MEG3:TSS-DMR, particularly in buccal cells, were closer to normal range compared to those in leukocytes. Microsatellite analysis for chromosome 14 and array comparative hybridization analysis showed no upd(14)pat or microdeletion involving the 14q32.2 imprinted region in either patient. A differential mosaic ratio of cells with aberrant methylation of DMRs at the 14q32.2 imprinted region among tissues (connective tissue, lung, and brain) might have led to their atypical clinical features. Further studies of patients with epimutation should further expand the phenotypic spectrum of KOS.

Investigation of umbilical cord serum miRNAs associated with childhood obesity: A pilot study from a birth cohort study.

We investigated umbilical cord serum microRNA (miRNA) profiles to identify biomarkers of a risk for obesity later in life. Participating children were divided into high- and low-risk groups of obesity based on the timing of adiposity rebound and the body mass index (BMI) at 5 years and randomly selected from each group for this study. 3D-Gene® Human miRNA Oligo Chip was performed using cord serum in five children of both groups. The most relevant miRNAs were confirmed in 33 children of the groups using the TaqMan® microRNA assay. We detected five cord serum miRNAs differentially expressed in children at high risk of obesity compared with the levels in children at low risk, namely, miR-516-3p and miR-130a-3p with increased levels and miR-1260b, miR-4709-3p, and miR194-3p with decreased levels. This study provides the first identification of altered umbilical cord serum miRNAs in childhood obesity.

Individual and mixed metal maternal blood concentrations in relation to birth size: An analysis of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

BACKGROUND: Growth restriction in the prenatal period is a significant public health concern. Metals can negatively affect birth size, and pregnant women may be exposed to metal mixtures. Comprehensive studies analyzing the effects of combined metal exposure with accurate individual blood metal concentrations are limited. The current study investigated the associations between maternal metal exposure and birth size in a large, nationwide Japanese cohort using individual and mixed model approaches. METHODS: Lead, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and manganese blood concentrations were measured in pregnant women in the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). Measurements of infant birth size-including body weight, body length, and head and chest circumference-were collected. Linear and logistic regressions were used for birth size measurements and the odds of an infant being small in size for gestational age, respectively. Associations between combined metal mixtures and measurements at birth were evaluated using quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). RESULTS: Of the 103,060 JECS pregnancies, 93,739 mother-infant pairs were analyzed. The linear regression models showed that lead, selenium, cadmium, and manganese-but not mercury-were associated with body weight. Cadmium was associated with length and chest circumference and mercury was associated with head circumference. Quantile g-computation revealed that manganese increased infant birth weight, length, head circumference, and chest circumference. Lead was the strongest negative factor for infant birth weight, length, head circumference, and chest circumference. The BKMR analysis revealed that the metals had an additive, rather than a synergistic effect. CONCLUSION: Metal exposure is associated with infant birth size, with lead and manganese playing a more significant role in Japan. The effects of prenatal combined metal exposure at low levels warrant public health attention.

Association between maternal antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and childhood obesity in the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

BACKGROUND: The association between maternal antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and childhood obesity is still unclear. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to evaluate the association between prenatal exposure to antibiotics and obesity at age 3 years using data from a large Japanese birth cohort. METHODS: The Japan Environment and Children's Study is a nationwide birth cohort study. In this study, singleton vaginal full-term births were included. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥95th percentile according to child growth standards. Prenatal antibiotic exposure was defined as antimicrobial agent use during pregnancy and was collected from maternal interviews and medical record transcripts. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association of prenatal antibiotic exposure with child obesity at 3 years. RESULTS: In the crude and adjusted models with all children, maternal antibiotic exposure during pregnancy showed a marginal relationship with child obesity at 3 years. In the analyses according to exposure period and sex, exposure to antibiotics during the second/third trimester was significantly associated with obesity at the age of 3 years in female infants, but not in male infants, although the exposure during the first trimester was not in both sexes. CONCLUSION: Maternal antibiotic exposure during mid/late pregnancy may result in child obesity.

Vitamin D Metabolite Ratio in Pregnant Women with Low Blood Vitamin D Concentrations Is Associated with Neonatal Anthropometric Data.

Existing evidence on the correlation between maternal vitamin D concentrations and birth outcomes is conflicting. Investigation of these associations requires accurate assessment of vitamin D status, especially in individuals with low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations. This study examined the correlations between birth outcomes and the maternal vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) 1 (defined as the ratio of 24,25(OH)2D3 to 25(OH)D) and VMR2 (defined as the ratio of 3-epi-25(OH)D3 to 25(OH)D) using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study at Chiba Regional Center. A total of 297 mother-neonate pairs were analyzed. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we measured 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3, 24,25(OH)2D3, and 3-epi-25(OH)D3 concentrations in maternal serum samples. These data were analyzed in relation to birth anthropometric data using multivariable linear regression. Of the study participants, 85.2% showed insufficient vitamin D concentrations. VMR1 was strongly correlated with 25(OH)D concentrations, whereas VMR2 showed a weak correlation. Only VMR2 was associated with all anthropometric data. VMR2 in pregnant women with low vitamin D blood concentrations is a useful marker for neonatal anthropometric data and is independent of 25(OH)D. Accurate measurement of vitamin D metabolites could help better understand the effects of vitamin D on birth outcomes.

Maternal Iodine Intake and Neurodevelopment of Offspring: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Inadequate maternal iodine intake affects thyroid function and may impair fetal brain development. This study investigated the association between maternal iodine intake during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental delay in offspring at 1 and 3 years of age using a nationwide birth cohort: the Japan Environment and Children's Study. We assessed dietary iodine intake during pregnancy using a food frequency questionnaire and child neurodevelopment using the Japanese translation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition. The risk of delay (score below the cut-off value) for fine motor domain at 1 year of age was increased in the lowest quintile iodine intake group compared with the fourth quintile iodine intake group. The risk of delay for problem-solving at 1 year of age was increased in the lowest and second quintile iodine intake group and decreased in the highest quintile iodine intake group. The risk of delay for communication, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal-social domains at 3 years of age was increased in the lowest and second quintile iodine intake group compared with the fourth quintile iodine intake group, while the risk of delay for fine motor and problem-solving domains was decreased in the highest quintile iodine intake group. Low iodine intake levels in pregnancy may affect child neurodevelopment.

Decreased head circumference at birth associated with maternal tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy on the Japanese prospective birth cohort study.

Maternal tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy impairs fetal body size, including head circumference (HC) at birth; however, the mechanism still remains unclear. This analysis using a large prospective cohort study evaluated the impact of maternal tobacco exposure on their offspring's HC and the relationship with placental weight ratio (PWR) and placental abnormalities. Parents-children pairs (n = 84,856) were included from the 104,065 records of the Japan Environmental and Children's Study. Maternal perinatal clinical and social information by self-administered questionnaires, offspring's body size, and placental information were collected. Data were analyzed with binominal logistic regression analysis and path analysis. Logistic regression showed significantly elevated adjusted odds ratio (aOR) (1.653, 95% CI 1.387-1.969) for the impact of maternal smoking during pregnancy on their offspring's smaller HC at birth. Maternal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the non-smoking group did not increase aOR for the smaller HC. Path analysis showed that maternal smoking during pregnancy decreased the offspring's HC directly, but not indirectly via PWR or placental abnormalities. The quitting smoking during pregnancy group did not increase aOR for the smaller HC than the non-smoking group, suggesting that quitting smoking may reduce their offspring's neurological impairment even after pregnancy.

High frequency of paternal iso or heterodisomy at chromosome 20 associated with sporadic pseudohypoparathyroidism 1B.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism 1B (PHP1B) is caused by maternal epigenetic defects in the imprinted GNAS cluster. PHP1B can follow an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance or occur sporadically (spor-PHP1B). These latter patients present broad methylation changes of two or more differentially methylated regions (DMR) that, when mimicking the paternal allele, raises the suspicious of the occurrence of paternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 20 (upd(20)pat). A cohort of 33 spor-PHP1B patients was screened for upd(20)pat using comparative genomic hybridization with SNP-chip. Methylation analyses were assessed by methylation specific-multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. Upd(20)pat was identified in 6 patients, all exhibiting typical paternal methylation pattern compared to normal controls, namely a complete loss of methylation of GNAS A/B:TSS-DMR, negligible methylation at GNAS-AS1:TSS-DMR and GNAS-XL:Ex1-DMR and complete gain of methylation at GNAS-NESP:TSS-DMR. The overall frequency of upd(20) is 18% in our cohort when searched considering both severe and partial loss of imprinting. However, twenty five patients displayed severe methylation pattern and the upd(20)pat frequency reaches 24% when searching in this group. Consequently, up to day, upd(20)pat is the most common anomaly than other genetic alterations in spor-PHP1B patients. Upd(20)pat occurrence is not linked to the parental age in contrast to upd(20)mat, strongly associated with an advanced maternal childbearing age. This study provides criteria to guide further investigations for upd(20)pat needed for an adequate genetic counseling.

Psoitis and multiple venous thromboses caused by Panton Valentine Leukocidin-positive methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus in a 12-year-old girl: A case report.

Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) is one of the many toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus. In Japan, PVL-positive S. aureus strains are mainly methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Data regarding PVL-positive methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) are scarce. In this report, we describe a case of severe infection by PVL-positive MSSA. A 12-year-old healthy girl was admitted with high fever and pain in the lower back. Computed tomography revealed a diagnosis of psoitis and multiple venous thromboses. Blood cultures obtained after admission revealed infection with MSSA. Her fever continued despite adequate antibiotic therapy. On the fifth hospitalization day, she developed bladder dysfunction, and an abscess was noted near the third lumbar vertebra. She underwent an emergency operation and recovered. Bacterial analyses revealed that the causative MSSA was a PVL-producing single variant of ST8 (related to USA300clone), of sequence type 2149. PVL is known to cause platelet activation. This case demonstrates the need for detailed analyses of the causative strain of bacteria in cases of S. aureus infection with deep vein thrombosis, even in cases of known MSSA infection.

A novel CUL7 mutation in a Japanese patient with 3M syndrome.

3M syndrome is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by severe pre-natal and post-natal growth retardation, dysmorphic facial features, and skeletal abnormalities. We present a patient with 3M syndrome caused by the compound heterozygous mutations p.Trp68* and p.Gly1452Asp in CUL7, the latter of which is novel, who exhibited a good body height response to growth hormone treatment. These results expand our knowledge of phenotype-genotype correlations in 3M syndrome, including correlations relevant to growth hormone response.

A Large Inversion Involving GNAS Exon A/B and All Exons Encoding Gsα Is Associated With Autosomal Dominant Pseudohypoparathyroidism Type Ib (PHP1B).

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHP1B) is characterized primarily by resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) and thus hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia, in most cases without evidence for Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO). PHP1B is associated with epigenetic changes at one or several differentially-methylated regions (DMRs) within GNAS, which encodes the α-subunit of the stimulatory G protein (Gsα) and splice variants thereof. Heterozygous, maternally inherited STX16 or GNAS deletions leading to isolated loss-of-methylation (LOM) at exon A/B alone or at all maternal DMRs are the cause of autosomal dominant PHP1B (AD-PHP1B). In this study, we analyzed three affected individuals, the female proband and her two sons. All three revealed isolated LOM at GNAS exon A/B, whereas the proband's healthy maternal grandmother and uncle showed normal methylation at this locus. Haplotype analysis was consistent with linkage to the STX16/GNAS region, yet no deletion could be identified. Whole-genome sequencing of one of the patients revealed a large heterozygous inversion (1,882,433 bp). The centromeric breakpoint of the inversion is located 7,225 bp downstream of GNAS exon XL, but its DMR showed no methylation abnormality, raising the possibility that the inversion disrupts a regulatory element required only for establishing or maintaining exon A/B methylation. Because our three patients presented phenotypes consistent with PHP1B, and not with PHP1A, the Gsα promoter is probably unaffected by the inversion. Our findings expand the spectrum of genetic mutations that lead to LOM at exon A/B alone and thus biallelic expression of the transcript derived from this alternative first GNAS exon. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1B caused by methylation changes at the GNAS complex locus.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1B (PHP1B) consists of a heterogeneous group of disorders characterised by resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH). There are several different PHP1B subtypes that are all associated with methylation changes at GNAS. These epigenetic changes are caused by maternal deletions in GNAS or STX16, by paternal uniparental isodisomy of chromosome 20q (patUPD20q) or by undefined genetic mutations. The GNAS methylation changes are ultimately responsible for resistance to PTH signalling in the proximal renal tubules. However, there is no PTH resistance in the distal renal tubules nor in bone cells; consequently, patients with PHP1B have reduced urinary calcium excretion and can readily mobilise calcium (and phosphate) from the skeleton. We report a case of a sporadic PHP1B patient with broad GNAS methylation changes that were presumably caused by an unknown genetic mutation outside the GNAS locus. PTH resistance was preceded by several years by autoimmune negative hypothyroidism. Treatment consisted of calcium substitution and calcitriol.

Analysis of Multiple Families With Single Individuals Affected by Pseudohypoparathyroidism Type Ib (PHP1B) Reveals Only One Novel Maternally Inherited GNAS Deletion.

Proximal tubular resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) resulting in hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia are preeminent abnormalities in pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHP1B), but resistance toward other hormones as well as variable features of Albright's Hereditary Osteodystrophy (AHO) can occur also. Genomic DNA from PHP1B patients shows epigenetic changes at one or multiple differentially methylated regions (DMRs) within GNAS, the gene encoding Gαs and splice variants thereof. In the autosomal dominant disease variant, these methylation abnormalities are caused by deletions in STX16 or GNAS on the maternal allele. The molecular defect(s) leading to sporadic PHP1B (sporPHP1B) remains in most cases unknown and we therefore analyzed 60 sporPHP1B patients and available family members by microsatellite markers, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), and methylation-specific MLPA (MS-MLPA). All investigated cases revealed broad GNAS methylation changes, but no evidence for inheritance of two paternal chromosome 20q alleles. Some patients with partial epigenetic modifications in DNA from peripheral blood cells showed more complete GNAS methylation changes when testing their immortalized lymphoblastoid cells. Analysis of siblings and children of sporPHP1B patients provided no evidence for an abnormal mineral ion regulation and no changes in GNAS methylation. Only one patient revealed, based on MLPA and microsatellite analyses, evidence for an allelic loss, which resulted in the discovery of two adjacent, maternally inherited deletions (37,597 and 1427 bp, respectively) that remove the area between GNAS antisense exons 3 and 5, including exon NESP. Our findings thus emphasize that the region comprising antisense exons 3 and 4 is required for establishing all maternal GNAS methylation imprints. The genetic defect(s) leading in sporPHP1B to epigenetic GNAS changes and thus PTH-resistance remains unknown, but it seems unlikely that this disease variant is caused by heterozygous inherited or de novo mutations involving GNAS.

Similar frequency of paternal uniparental disomy involving chromosome 20q (patUPD20q) in Japanese and Caucasian patients affected by sporadic pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (sporPHP1B).

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHP1B) is caused by proximal tubular resistance to parathyroid hormone that occurs in most cases in the absence of Albright's Hereditary Osteodystrophy (AHO). Familial forms of PHP1B are caused by maternally inherited microdeletions within STX16, the gene encoding syntaxin 16, or within GNAS, a complex genetic locus on chromosome 20q13.3 encoding Gsα and several splice variants thereof. These deletions lead either to a loss-of-methylation affecting GNAS exon A/B alone or to epigenetic changes involving multiple differentially methylated regions (DMRs) within GNAS. Broad GNAS methylation abnormalities are also observed in most sporadic PHP1B (sporPHP1B) cases. However, with the exception of paternal uniparental disomy involving chromosome 20q (patUPD20q), the molecular mechanism leading to this disease variant remains unknown. We now investigated 23 Japanese sporPHP1B cases, who presented with hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, elevated PTH levels, and occasionally with TSH elevations and mild AHO features. Age at diagnosis was 10.6 ± 1.45 years. Calcium, phosphate, and PTH were 6.3 ± 0.23 mg/dL, 7.7 ± 0.33 mg/dL, and 305 ± 34.5 pg/mL, respectively, i.e. laboratory findings that are indistinguishable from those previously observed for Caucasian sporPHP1B cases. All investigated patients showed broad GNAS methylation changes. Eleven individuals were homozygous for SNPs within exon NESP and a pentanucleotide repeat in exon A/B. Two of these patients furthermore revealed homozygosity for numerous microsatellite markers on chromosome 20q raising the possibility of patUPD20q, which was confirmed through the analysis of parental DNA. Based on this and our previous reports, paternal duplication of the chromosomal region comprising the GNAS locus appears to be a fairly common cause of sporPHP1B that is likely to occur with equal frequency in Caucasians and Asians.

TSH elevations as the first laboratory evidence for pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHP-Ib).

Hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia because of resistance toward parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the proximal renal tubules are the most prominent abnormalities in patients affected by pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (PHP-Ib). In this rare disorder, which is caused by GNAS methylation changes, resistance can occur toward other hormones, such as thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), that mediate their actions through G protein-coupled receptors. However, these additional laboratory abnormalities are usually not recognized until PTH-resistant hypocalcemia becomes clinically apparent. We now describe four pediatric patients, first diagnosed with subclinical or overt hypothyroidism between the ages of 0.2 and 15 years, who developed overt PTH-resistance 3 to 20 years later. Although anti-thyroperoxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies provided a plausible explanation for hypothyroidism in one of these patients, this and two other patients revealed broad epigenetic GNAS abnormalities, which included loss of methylation (LOM) at exons AS, XL, and A/B, and gain of methylation at exon NESP55; ie, findings consistent with PHP-Ib. LOM at GNAS exon A/B alone led in the fourth patient to the identification of a maternally inherited 3-kb STX16 deletion, a well-established cause of autosomal dominant PHP-Ib. Although GNAS methylation changes were not detected in additional pediatric and adult patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (23 pediatric and 39 adult cases), hypothyroidism can obviously be the initial finding in PHP-Ib patients. One should therefore consider measuring PTH, along with calcium and phosphate, in patients with unexplained hypothyroidism for extended periods of time to avoid hypocalcemia and associated clinical complications.

Establishment of diagnosis by bisulfite-treated methylation-specific PCR method and analysis of clinical characteristics of pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b.

Pathogenesis of pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1b (PHP-1b) is related to the loss of methylation at the GNAS exon A/B region, which is combined with epigenetic defects at other differentially methylated GNAS regions in most sporadic cases. In this study, we established a method for evaluating the methylation status of a CpG island in exon A/B using a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSPCR). We designed two primer pairs specific for the methylated and unmethylated alleles and evaluated the methylation status of GNAS exon A/B in samples from PHP-1b patients and normal controls. We examined 20 Japanese patients and 20 normal controls, and one primer set was found to be appropriate for diagnosis. Furthermore, we evaluated the clinical data of patients. Weight and height of patients were not significantly different from the normal population. Short stature (adult height ≤ 2SD) was observed in one patient and short metacarpals in two. Obesity was observed in six patients, and no patient showed ectopic subcutaneous calcification. Seven patients showed subclinical hypothyroidism because of resistance to thyroid stimulating hormone, but no patient had an abnormally low free thyroxine level, and none received oral thyroid hormone replacement. For diagnosis of PHP-1b, only clinical data is not sufficient because a few PHP-1b patients show clinical features similar to PHP-1a, and hence, molecular biology techniques are required for correct diagnosis. We concluded that MSPCR is applicable for rapid molecular diagnosis of PHP-1b.

AMP-activated protein kinase attenuates Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in human osteoblastic Saos-2 cells.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key sensor of cellular energetic conditions. Recent studies suggest that AMPK affects osteoblast differentiation, although its role and mechanism are not fully understood. One of the most important signals in osteoblast differentiation is the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway which induces T-cell transcription factor 1 (TCF)-dependent transcription. Using human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells, we determined whether AMPK modulates Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in osteoblasts. Chemical activators of AMPK (AICAR [5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside], metformin) suppressed Wnt3a-induced TCF-dependent transcriptional activity. Transactivation by Wnt was potentiated by inhibiting ß-catenin degradation with lithium chloride (LiCl). LiCl-induced Wnt transactivation was suppressed by addition of metformin. Metformin increased the phosphorylation of ß-catenin and decreased ß-catenin protein levels leading to suppression of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Our present study showed that AMPK attenuates Wnt/ß-catenin signaling by reducing ß-catenin protein levels in osteoblast-like cells.