Bi-allelic NIT1 variants cause a brain small vessel disease characterized by movement disorders, massively dilated perivascular spaces, and intracerebral hemorrhage.

PURPOSE: To describe a recessively inherited cerebral small vessel disease, caused by loss-of-function variants in Nitrilase1 (NIT1). METHODS: We performed exome sequencing, brain magnetic resonance imaging, neuropathology, electron microscopy, western blotting, and transcriptomic and metabolic analyses in 7 NIT1-small vessel disease patients from 5 unrelated pedigrees. RESULTS: The first identified patients were 3 siblings, compound heterozygous for the NIT1 c.727C>T; (p.Arg243Trp) variant and the NIT1 c.198_199del; p.(Ala68∗) variant. The 4 additional patients were single cases from 4 unrelated pedigrees and were all homozygous for the NIT1 c.727C>T; p.(Arg243Trp) variant. Patients presented in mid-adulthood with movement disorders. All patients had striking abnormalities on brain magnetic resonance imaging, with numerous and massively dilated basal ganglia perivascular spaces. Three patients had non-lobar intracerebral hemorrhage between age 45 and 60, which was fatal in 2 cases. Western blotting on patient fibroblasts showed absence of NIT1 protein, and metabolic analysis in urine confirmed loss of NIT1 enzymatic function. Brain autopsy revealed large electron-dense deposits in the vessel walls of small and medium sized cerebral arteries. CONCLUSION: NIT1-small vessel disease is a novel, autosomal recessively inherited cerebral small vessel disease characterized by a triad of movement disorders, massively dilated basal ganglia perivascular spaces, and intracerebral hemorrhage.

Targeted ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry procedures for the diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism: validation through ERNDIM external quality assessment schemes.

OBJECTIVES: Early diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) is crucial to ensure early detection of conditions which are treatable. This study reports on targeted metabolomic procedures for the diagnosis of IEM of amino acids, acylcarnitines, creatine/guanidinoacetate, purines/pyrimidines and oligosaccharides, and describes its validation through external quality assessment schemes (EQA). METHODS: Analysis was performed on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC H-class system coupled to a Waters Xevo triple-quadrupole (TQD) mass spectrometer, operating in both positive and negative electrospray ionization mode. Chromatographic separation was performed on a CORTECS C18 column (2.1 × 150, 1.6 µm). Data were collected by multiple reaction monitoring. RESULTS: The internal and EQA results were generally adequate, with a few exceptions. We calculated the relative measurement error (RME) and only a few metabolites displayed a RME higher than 30 % (asparagine and some acylcarnitine species). For oligosaccharides, semi-quantitative analysis of an educational panel clearly identified the 8 different diseases included. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we have validated our analytical system through an external quality control assessment. This validation will contribute to harmonization between laboratories, thus improving identification and management of patients with IEM.

AMFR dysfunction causes autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia in human that is amenable to statin treatment in a preclinical model.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) are rare, inherited neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental disorders that mainly present with lower limb spasticity and muscle weakness due to motor neuron dysfunction. Whole genome sequencing identified bi-allelic truncating variants in AMFR, encoding a RING-H2 finger E3 ubiquitin ligase anchored at the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), in two previously genetically unexplained HSP-affected siblings. Subsequently, international collaboration recognized additional HSP-affected individuals with similar bi-allelic truncating AMFR variants, resulting in a cohort of 20 individuals from 8 unrelated, consanguineous families. Variants segregated with a phenotype of mainly pure but also complex HSP consisting of global developmental delay, mild intellectual disability, motor dysfunction, and progressive spasticity. Patient-derived fibroblasts, neural stem cells (NSCs), and in vivo zebrafish modeling were used to investigate pathomechanisms, including initial preclinical therapy assessment. The absence of AMFR disturbs lipid homeostasis, causing lipid droplet accumulation in NSCs and patient-derived fibroblasts which is rescued upon AMFR re-expression. Electron microscopy indicates ER morphology alterations in the absence of AMFR. Similar findings are seen in amfra-/- zebrafish larvae, in addition to altered touch-evoked escape response and defects in motor neuron branching, phenocopying the HSP observed in patients. Interestingly, administration of FDA-approved statins improves touch-evoked escape response and motor neuron branching defects in amfra-/- zebrafish larvae, suggesting potential therapeutic implications. Our genetic and functional studies identify bi-allelic truncating variants in AMFR as a cause of a novel autosomal recessive HSP by altering lipid metabolism, which may potentially be therapeutically modulated using precision medicine with statins.

Analysis of urinary oligosaccharide excretion patterns by UHPLC/HRAM mass spectrometry for screening of lysosomal storage disorders.

Oligosaccharidoses, sphingolipidoses and mucolipidoses are lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) in which defective breakdown of glycan-side chains of glycosylated proteins and glycolipids leads to the accumulation of incompletely degraded oligosaccharides within lysosomes. In metabolic laboratories, these disorders are commonly diagnosed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) but more recently also mass spectrometry-based approaches have been published. To expand the possibilities to screen for these diseases, we developed an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) with a high-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) mass spectrometry (MS) screening platform, together with an open-source iterative bioinformatics pipeline. This pipeline generates comprehensive biomarker profiles and allows for extensive quality control (QC) monitoring. Using this platform, we were able to identify α-mannosidosis, ß-mannosidosis, α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase deficiency, sialidosis, galactosialidosis, fucosidosis, aspartylglucosaminuria, GM1 gangliosidosis, GM2 gangliosidosis (M. Sandhoff) and mucolipidosis II/III in patient samples. Aberrant urinary oligosaccharide excretions were also detected for other disorders, including NGLY1 congenital disorder of deglycosylation, sialic acid storage disease, MPS type IV B and GSD II (Pompe disease). For the latter disorder, we identified heptahexose (Hex7), as a potential urinary biomarker, in addition to glucose tetrasaccharide (Glc4), for the diagnosis and monitoring of young onset cases of Pompe disease. Occasionally, so-called "neonate" biomarker profiles were observed in young patients, which were probably due to nutrition. Our UHPLC/HRAM-MS screening platform can easily be adopted in biochemical laboratories and allows for simple and robust screening and straightforward interpretation of the screening results to detect disorders in which aberrant oligosaccharides accumulate.

Gastrointestinal Biomarkers and Their Association with Feeding in the First Five Days of Pediatric Critical Illness.

OBJECTIVES: Predicting the patients' tolerance to enteral nutrition (EN) would help clinicians optimize individual nutritional intake. This study investigated the course of several gastrointestinal (GI) biomarkers and their association with EN advancement (ENA) longitudinally during pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the Early versus Late Parenteral Nutrition in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit randomized controlled trial. EN was started early and increased gradually. The cholecystokinin (CCK), leptin, glucagon, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 (I-FABP2), and citrulline plasma concentrations were measured upon PICU admission, day 3 and day 5. ENA was defined as kcal EN provided as % of predicted resting energy expenditure. The course of the biomarkers and ENA was examined in patients with samples on all time points using Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The association of ENA with the biomarkers was examined using a 2-part mixed-effects model with data of the complete population, adjusted for possible confounders. RESULTS: For 172 patients, median age 8.6 years (first quartile; third quartile: 4.2; 13.4), samples were available, of which 55 had samples on all time points. The median ENA was 0 (0; 0) on admission, 14.5 (0.0; 43.8) on day 3, and 28.0 (7.6; 94.8) on day 5. During PICU stay, CCK and I-FABP2 concentrations decreased significantly, whereas glucagon concentrations increased significantly, and leptin and citrulline remained stable. None of the biomarkers was longitudinally associated with ENA. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the current evidence, CCK, leptin, glucagon, I-FABP2, and citrulline appear to have no added value in predicting ENA in the first 5 days of pediatric critical illness.

Uveal Melanoma Patients Have a Distinct Metabolic Phenotype in Peripheral Blood.

Uveal melanomas (UM) are detected earlier. Consequently, tumors are smaller, allowing for novel eye-preserving treatments. This reduces tumor tissue available for genomic profiling. Additionally, these small tumors can be hard to differentiate from nevi, creating the need for minimally invasive detection and prognostication. Metabolites show promise as minimally invasive detection by resembling the biological phenotype. In this pilot study, we determined metabolite patterns in the peripheral blood of UM patients (n = 113) and controls (n = 46) using untargeted metabolomics. Using a random forest classifier (RFC) and leave-one-out cross-validation, we confirmed discriminatory metabolite patterns in UM patients compared to controls with an area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic of 0.99 in both positive and negative ion modes. The RFC and leave-one-out cross-validation did not reveal discriminatory metabolite patterns in high-risk versus low-risk of metastasizing in UM patients. Ten-time repeated analyses of the RFC and LOOCV using 50% randomly distributed samples showed similar results for UM patients versus controls and prognostic groups. Pathway analysis using annotated metabolites indicated dysregulation of several processes associated with malignancies. Consequently, minimally invasive metabolomics could potentially allow for screening as it distinguishes metabolite patterns that are putatively associated with oncogenic processes in the peripheral blood plasma of UM patients from controls at the time of diagnosis.

Integration of metabolomics with genomics: Metabolic gene prioritization using metabolomics data and genomic variant (CADD) scores.

The integration of metabolomics data with sequencing data is a key step towards improving the diagnostic process for finding the disease-causing genetic variant(s) in patients suspected of having an inborn error of metabolism (IEM). The measured metabolite levels could provide additional phenotypical evidence to elucidate the degree of pathogenicity for variants found in genes associated with metabolic processes. We present a computational approach, called Reafect, that calculates for each reaction in a metabolic pathway a score indicating whether that reaction is deficient or not. When calculating this score, Reafect takes multiple factors into account: the magnitude and sign of alterations in the metabolite levels, the reaction distances between metabolites and reactions in the pathway, and the biochemical directionality of the reactions. We applied Reafect to untargeted metabolomics data of 72 patient samples with a known IEM and found that in 81% of the cases the correct deficient enzyme was ranked within the top 5% of all considered enzyme deficiencies. Next, we integrated Reafect with Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) scores (a measure for gene variant deleteriousness) and ranked the metabolic genes of 27 IEM patients. We observed that this integrated approach significantly improved the prioritization of the genes containing the disease-causing variant when compared with the two approaches individually. For 15/27 IEM patients the correct affected gene was ranked within the top 0.25% of the set of potentially affected genes. Together, our findings suggest that metabolomics data improves the identification of affected genes in patients suffering from IEM.

The role of ERNDIM diagnostic proficiency schemes in improving the quality of diagnostic testing for inherited metabolic diseases.

External quality assurance (EQA) is crucial to monitor and improve the quality of biochemical genetic testing. ERNDIM (www.erndim.org), established in 1994, aims at reliable and standardized procedures for diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of inherited metabolic disease (IMD) by providing EQA schemes and educational activities. Currently, ERNDIM provides 16 different EQA schemes including quantitative schemes for various metabolite groups, and interpretive schemes such as diagnostic proficiency testing (DPT). DPT schemes focus on the ability of laboratories to correctly identify and interpret abnormalities in authentic urine samples across a wide range of IMDs. In the DPT schemes, six samples each year are distributed together with clinical information. Laboratories choose and perform the tests needed to reach a diagnosis. Data were collected on 345 samples, distributed to up to 105 laboratories worldwide. Diagnostic proficiency (the % of total points possible for all participating laboratories within a scheme for analysis and interpretation) ranged widely: amino acid disorders (n = 20), range 33%-100%, mean 84%; organic acid disorders (n = 35), range 14%-100%, mean 84%; lysosomal storage disorders (n = 13), range 20%-97%, mean 73%; purine/pyrimidine disorders (n = 9), range 37%-100%, mean 70%; miscellaneous disorders (n = 8), range 17%-100%, mean 65%; no IMD, range 65%-95%, mean 85%. When a sample with the same disorder was distributed in a subsequent survey, performance improved in 75 cases with no improvement seen in 32, suggesting overall improvement of performance. ERNDIM diagnostic proficiency testing is a valuable activity which can help to assess laboratory performance, identify methodological/technical challenges, be informative during quality audits and contribute to a better clinical appreciation of diagnostic uncertainty.

Associations of maternal bisphenol urine concentrations during pregnancy with neonatal metabolomic profiles.

BACKGROUND: Fetal exposure to bisphenols is associated with altered fetal growth, adverse birth outcomes and childhood cardio-metabolic risk factors. Metabolomics may serve as a tool to identify the mechanisms underlying these associations. We examined the associations of maternal bisphenol urinary concentrations in pregnancy with neonatal metabolite profiles from cord blood. METHODS: In a population-based prospective cohort study among 225 mother-child pairs, maternal urinary bisphenol A, S and F concentrations in first, second and third trimester were measured. LC-MS/MS was used to determine neonatal concentrations of amino acids, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), phospholipids (PL), and carnitines in cord blood. RESULTS: No associations of maternal total bisphenol concentrations with neonatal metabolite profiles were present. Higher maternal average BPA concentrations were associated with higher neonatal mono-unsaturated alkyl-lysophosphatidylcholine concentrations, whereas higher maternal average BPS was associated with lower neonatal overall and saturated alkyl-lysophosphatidylcholine (p-values < 0.05).Trimester-specific analyses showed that higher maternal BPA, BPS and BPF were associated with alterations in neonatal NEFA, diacyl-phosphatidylcholines, acyl-alkyl-phosphatidylcholines, alkyl-lysophosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelines and acyl-carnitines, with the strongest effects for third trimester maternal bisphenol and neonatal diacyl-phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyeline and acyl-carnitine metabolites (p-values < 0.05). Associations were not explained by maternal socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics or birth characteristics. DISCUSSION: Higher maternal bisphenol A, F and S concentrations in pregnancy are associated with alterations in neonatal metabolite profile, mainly in NEFA, PL and carnitines concentrations. These findings provide novel insight into potential mechanisms underlying associations of maternal bisphenol exposure during pregnancy with adverse offspring outcomes but need to be replicated among larger, diverse populations.

Hexb enzyme deficiency leads to lysosomal abnormalities in radial glia and microglia in zebrafish brain development.

Sphingolipidoses are severe, mostly infantile lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) caused by defective glycosphingolipid degradation. Two of these sphingolipidoses, Tay Sachs and Sandhoff diseases, are caused by ß-Hexosaminidase (HEXB) enzyme deficiency, resulting in ganglioside (GM2) accumulation and neuronal loss. The precise sequence of cellular events preceding, and leading to, neuropathology remains unclear, but likely involves inflammation and lysosomal accumulation of GM2 in multiple cell types. We aimed to determine the consequences of Hexb activity loss for different brain cell types using zebrafish. Hexb deficient zebrafish (hexb-/- ) showed lysosomal abnormalities already early in development both in radial glia, which are the neuronal and glial progenitors, and in microglia. Additionally, at 5 days postfertilization, hexb-/- zebrafish showed reduced locomotor activity. Although specific oligosaccharides accumulate in the adult brain, hexb-/- ) zebrafish are viable and apparently resistant to Hexb deficiency. In all, we identified cellular consequences of loss of Hexb enzyme activity during embryonic brain development, showing early effects on glia, which possibly underlie the behavioral aberrations. Hereby, we identified clues into the contribution of non-neuronal lysosomal abnormalities in LSDs affecting the brain and provide a tool to further study what underlies the relative resistance to Hexb deficiency in vivo.

Craniosynostosis affects the majority of mucopolysaccharidosis patients and can contribute to increased intracranial pressure.

BACKGROUND: The mucopolysaccharidoses are multisystem lysosomal storage diseases characterized by extensive skeletal deformities, including skull abnormalities. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of craniosynostosis in the different mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) types and its clinical consequences. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study spanning 10 years, skull imaging and clinical evaluations were performed in 47 MPS patients (type I, II, VI, and VII). A total of 215 radiographs of the skull were analyzed. The presence and type of craniosynostosis, the sutures involved, progression over time, skull shape, head circumference, fundoscopy, and ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement data were evaluated. RESULTS: Craniosynostosis of at least one suture was present in 77% of all 47 MPS patients (≤ 6 years of age in 40% of all patients). In 32% of all MPS patients, premature closure of all sutures was seen (≤ 6 years of age in 13% of all patients). All patients with early closure had a more severe MPS phenotype, both in the neuronopathic (MPS I, II) and non-neuronopathic (MPS VI) patient groups. Because of symptomatic increased intracranial pressure (ICP), a VPS was placed in six patients, with craniosynostosis as a likely or certain causative factor for the increased pressure in four patients. One patient underwent cranial vault expansion because of severe craniosynostosis. CONCLUSIONS: Craniosynostosis occurs in the majority of MPS patients. Since the clinical consequences can be severe and surgical intervention is possible, skull growth and signs and symptoms of increased ICP should be monitored in both neuronopathic and non-neuronopathic patients with MPS.

Mucolipidosis type III, a series of adult patients.

BACKGROUND: Mucolipidosis type III α/ß or γ (MLIII) are rare autosomal recessive diseases, in which reduced activity of the enzyme UDP-N-acetyl glucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-PTase) leads to intra-lysosomal accumulation of different substrates. Publications on the natural history of MLIII, especially the milder forms, are scarce. This study provides a detailed description of the disease characteristics and its natural course in adult patients with MLIII. METHODS: In this retrospective chart study, the clinical, biochemical and molecular findings in adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MLIII from three treatment centres were collected. RESULTS: Thirteen patients with MLIII were included in this study. Four patients (31%) were initially misdiagnosed with a type of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS). Four patients (31%) had mild cognitive impairment. Six patients (46%) needed help with activities of daily living (ADL) or were wheelchair-dependent. All patients had dysostosis multiplex and progressive secondary osteoarthritis, characterised by cartilage destruction and bone lesions in multiple joints. All patients underwent multiple orthopaedic surgical interventions as early as the second or third decades of life, of which total hip replacement (THR) was the most common procedure (61% of patients). Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was found in 12 patients (92%) and in eight patients (61%), CTS release was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Severe skeletal abnormalities, resulting from abnormal bone development and severe progressive osteoarthritis, are the hallmark of MLIII, necessitating surgical orthopaedic interventions early in life. Future therapies for this disease should focus on improving cartilage and bone quality, preventing skeletal complications and improving mobility.

A long term follow-up study of the development of hip disease in Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI.

Hip problems in Mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI) lead to severe disability. Lack of data on the course of hip disease in MPS VI make decisions regarding necessity, timing and type of surgical intervention difficult. We therefore studied the development of hip pathology in MPS VI patients over time. Data were collected as part of a prospective follow-up study. Standardized supine AP pelvis and frog leg lateral radiographs of both hips were performed yearly or every 2years. Image assessment was performed quantitatively (angle measurements) and qualitatively (hip morphology). Clinical burden of hip disease was evaluated by physical examination, six minute walking test (6MWT) and a questionnaire assessing pain, wheelchair-dependency and walking distance. A total of 157 pelvic radiographs of 14 ERT treated MPS VI patients were evaluated. Age at first image ranged from 2.0 to 21.1years. Median follow up duration was 6.8years. In all patients, even in the youngest, the acetabulum and os ilium were dysplastic. Coverage of the femoral head by the acetabulum improved over time, but remained insufficient. While the femoral head appeared normal in the radiographs at young age, the ossification pattern became abnormal in all patients over time. In all patients the distance covered in the 6MWT was reduced (median Z scores -3.3). Twelve patients had a waddling gait. Four patients were partially wheelchair-dependent and ten patients had limitations in their maximum walking distance. In conclusion, clinically significant hip abnormalities develop in all MPS VI patients from very early in life, starting with deformities of the os ilium and acetabulum. Femoral head abnormalities occur later, most likely due to altered mechanical forces in combination with epiphyseal abnormalities due to glycosaminoglycan storage. The final shape and angle of the femoral head differs significantly between individual MPS VI patients and is difficult to predict.

Paroxysmal exercise-induced dystonia within the phenotypic spectrum of ECHS1 deficiency.

BACKGROUND: ECHS1 encodes a mitochondrial enzyme involved in the degradation of essential amino acids and fatty acids. Recently, ECHS1 mutations were shown to cause a new severe metabolic disorder presenting as Leigh or Leigh-like syndromes. The objective of this study was to describe a family with 2 siblings affected by different dystonic disorders as a resulting phenotype of ECHS1 mutations. METHODS: Clinical evaluation, MRI imaging, genome-wide linkage, exome sequencing, urine metabolite profiling, and protein expression studies were performed. RESULTS: The first sibling is 17 years old and presents with generalized dystonia and severe bilateral pallidal MRI lesions after 1 episode of infantile subacute metabolic encephalopathy (Leigh-like syndrome). In contrast, the younger sibling (15 years old) only suffers from paroxysmal exercise-induced dystonia and has very mild pallidal MRI abnormalities. Both patients carry compound heterozygous ECHS1 mutations: c.232G>T (predicted protein effect: p.Glu78Ter) and c.518C>T (p.Ala173Val). Linkage analysis, exome sequencing, cosegregation, expression studies, and metabolite profiling support the pathogenicity of these mutations. Expression studies in patients' fibroblasts showed mitochondrial localization and severely reduced levels of ECHS1 protein. Increased urinary S-(2-carboxypropyl)cysteine and N-acetyl-S-(2-carboxypropyl)cysteine levels, proposed metabolic markers of this disorder, were documented in both siblings. Sequencing ECHS1 in 30 unrelated patients with paroxysmal dyskinesias revealed no further mutations. CONCLUSIONS: The phenotype associated with ECHS1 mutations might be milder than reported earlier, compatible with prolonged survival, and also includes isolated paroxysmal exercise-induced dystonia. ECHS1 screening should be considered in patients with otherwise unexplained paroxysmal exercise-induced dystonia, in addition to those with Leigh and Leigh-like syndromes. Diet regimens and detoxifying agents represent potential therapeutic strategies. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

First two unrelated cases of isolated sedoheptulokinase deficiency: A benign disorder?

We present the first two reported unrelated patients with an isolated sedoheptulokinase (SHPK) deficiency. The first patient presented with neonatal cholestasis, hypoglycemia, and anemia, while the second patient presented with congenital arthrogryposis multiplex, multiple contractures, and dysmorphisms. Both patients had elevated excretion of erythritol and sedoheptulose, and each had a homozygous nonsense mutation in SHPK. SHPK is an enzyme that phosphorylates sedoheptulose to sedoheptulose-7-phosphate, which is an important intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. It is questionable whether SHPK deficiency is a causal factor for the clinical phenotypes of our patients. This study illustrates the necessity of extensive functional and clinical workup for interpreting a novel variant, including nonsense variants.

Genetic basis of alpha-aminoadipic and alpha-ketoadipic aciduria.

Alpha-aminoadipic and alpha-ketoadipic aciduria is an autosomal recessive inborn error of lysine, hydroxylysine, and tryptophan degradation. To date, DHTKD1 mutations have been reported in two alpha-aminoadipic and alpha-ketoadipic aciduria patients. We have now sequenced DHTKD1 in nine patients diagnosed with alpha-aminoadipic and alpha-ketoadipic aciduria as well as one patient with isolated alpha-aminoadipic aciduria, and identified causal mutations in eight. We report nine novel mutations, including three missense mutations, two nonsense mutations, two splice donor mutations, one duplication, and one deletion and insertion. Two missense mutations, one of which was reported before, were observed in the majority of cases. The clinical presentation of this group of patients was inhomogeneous. Our results confirm that alpha-aminoadipic and alpha-ketoadipic aciduria is caused by mutations in DHTKD1, and further establish that DHTKD1 encodes the E1 subunit of the alpha-ketoadipic acid dehydrogenase complex.

Residual α-L-iduronidase activity in fibroblasts of mild to severe Mucopolysaccharidosis type I patients.

Three major clinical subgroups are usually distinguished in Mucopolysaccharidosis type I: Hurler (MPS IH, severe presentation), Hurler-Scheie (MPS IH/S, intermediate) and Scheie (MPS IS, mild). To facilitate treatment with hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, early diagnosis is important for MPS IH patients. Although screening for MPS I in newborns would allow detection at an early age, it may be difficult to predict the phenotype on the basis of the genotype in these infants. Extra diagnostic tools are thus required. Based on the hypothesis that distinct MPS I phenotypes may result from differences in residual α-l-iduronidase (IDUA) activity, we modified the common IDUA assay using the substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl-α-l-iduronide to allow quantification of low IDUA activity in MPS I fibroblasts. Enzyme incubation was performed with high protein concentrations at different time points up to 8h. Mean residual IDUA activity was 0.18% (range 0-0.6) of the control value in MPS IH fibroblasts (n=5); against 0.27% (range 0.2-0.3) in MPS IH/S cells (n=3); and 0.79% (range 0.3-1.8) in MPS IS fibroblasts (n=5). These results suggest that residual IDUA activity and severity of the MPS I phenotype are correlated. Two MPS IS patients with rare (E276K/E276K) or indefinite (A327P/unknown) IDUA genotypes had residual IDUA activity in the MPS IS range, illustrating the usefulness of our approach. IDUA(E276K) was very unstable at 37°C, but more stable at 23°C, suggesting thermal instability. We conclude that this procedure for determining residual IDUA activity in fibroblasts of MPS I patients may be helpful to predict MPS I phenotype.

Up to five years experience with 11 mucopolysaccharidosis type VI patients.

Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type VI, MPS VI) is a rare progressive metabolic disorder characterized by coarse facial features, hepatosplenomegaly, restrictive pulmonary function, cardiac abnormalities and stiff joints. The disease is caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme N-acetyl galactosamine 4-sulfatase which leads to glycosaminoglycan (GAG) storage in various tissues. It presents as a clinical spectrum with varying disease progressions and severities. While the phases I/II/III studies proved the effectiveness of enzyme-replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant human arylsulfatase B, long-term data are still scarce. Over treatment periods ranging from 1.3 to 5.4 years, this prospective open-label follow-up study in 11 Dutch mucopolysaccharidosis type VI patients (age 2-18 years) showed that ERT had significant positive effects on cardiac-wall diameters (IVSd and LVMI), left and right shoulder flexions (p<0.001), liver size and spleen size (p<0.001), urinary GAG excretion (p<0.001), and the scales of quality of life (motor functioning and body functioning). ERT did not affect cardiac valve regurgitation or hearing function; HRQoL decreased slightly in two domains ('anxiety' and 'negative emotions'), and patients with the rapid and slow progressive forms of the disease differed with regard to baseline GAG excretion and GAG decrease during treatment. In conclusion, ERT had an effect on several clinical parameters. This effect was established in an open cohort of young mucopolysaccharidosis type VI patients.

Benchmarking Outlier Detection Methods for Detecting IEM Patients in Untargeted Metabolomics Data.

Untargeted metabolomics (UM) is increasingly being deployed as a strategy for screening patients that are suspected of having an inborn error of metabolism (IEM). In this study, we examined the potential of existing outlier detection methods to detect IEM patient profiles. We benchmarked 30 different outlier detection methods when applied to three untargeted metabolomics datasets. Our results show great differences in IEM detection performances across the various methods. The methods DeepSVDD and R-graph performed most consistently across the three metabolomics datasets. For datasets with a more balanced number of samples-to-features ratio, we found that AE reconstruction error, Mahalanobis and PCA reconstruction error also performed well. Furthermore, we demonstrated the importance of a PCA transform prior to applying an outlier detection method since we observed that this increases the performance of several outlier detection methods. For only one of the three metabolomics datasets, we observed clinically satisfying performances for some outlier detection methods, where we were able to detect 90% of the IEM patient samples while detecting no false positives. These results suggest that outlier detection methods have the potential to aid the clinical investigator in routine screening for IEM using untargeted metabolomics data, but also show that further improvements are needed to ensure clinically satisfying performances.

GAA variants associated with reduced enzymatic activity but lack of Pompe-related symptoms, incidentally identified by exome sequencing.

Pompe disease is a rare metabolic myopathy caused by pathogenic variants affecting the activity of the lysosomal glycogen-degrading enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA). Impaired GAA function results in the accumulation of undegraded glycogen within lysosomes in multiple tissues but predominantly affects the skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle. The degree of residual enzymatic activity appears to roughly correlate with the age of onset and the severity of the clinical symptoms. Here, we report four siblings in which the GAA variants NM_000152.5:c.2237G > C p.(Trp746Ser) and NM_000152.5:c.266G > A p.(Arg89His) were identified as an incidental finding of clinical exome sequencing. These variants are listed in the ClinVar and the Pompe disease GAA variant databases but are reported here for the first time in compound heterozygosity. All four siblings displayed normal urine tetrasaccharide levels and no clinical manifestations related to Pompe disease. Nevertheless, GAA enzymatic activity was within the range for late onset Pompe patients. Our report shows an association between a novel genotype and attenuated GAA enzymatic activity. The clinical significance can only be established by the regular monitoring of these individuals. The study highlights the major challenges for clinical care arising from incidental findings of next generation sequencing.