[Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease associated with periaxin mutations (CMT4F): Clinical, electrophysiological and genetic analysis of 24 patients]. / Maladie de Charcot-Marie-Tooth associée au gène de la périaxine (CMT4F) : description clinique, électrophysiologique et génétique de 24 patients.

Autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (AR-CMT) is often characterized by onset in early childhood and severe phenotype compared to the dominant forms. CMT disease associated with periaxin gene (PRX) is rare and characterized by demyelination limited to the major peripheral nerves. Following the discovery of a high frequency of a specific periaxin gene mutation (E1085fsX4 homozygote) in the Reunion Island, we examined all French patients known as carriers of the periaxin gene mutation. There were 24 patients. Eighteen were from the Reunion Island (6 families and 10 sporadic cases). The six remaining patients were in two families, each with two affected individuals, and two sporadic cases. The series included 17 female and seven male patients. Walking was acquired late, on average at 3.4±1.6 years. One patient never learned to walk. The Charcot Marie Tooth Neuropathy Score (CMTNS) averaged 24.5±8.1. Seven patients had been wheelchair-bound since the age of 24±22. Other symptoms were: scoliosis most often observed after the age of 12 years and sometimes complicated by a restrictive respiratory syndrome; foot deformity in 24 patients; strabismus; glaucoma; myopia. When conduction recordings are available, median nerve motor conduction was slow (<10m/s), associated with a major lengthening of distal latencies. Study of the periaxin gene should be considered in patients with severe demyelinating neuropathy associated with early infantile scoliosis. This disease leads to major disability (29% of patients in this series were wheelchair-bound) and to respiratory insufficiency. Genetic counselling is highly recommended for consanguineous families.

Maternal origin of a novel C-terminal truncation mutation in CDKL5 causing a severe atypical form of Rett syndrome.

The CDKL5 gene has been implicated in infantile spasms and more recently in a Rett syndrome-like phenotype. We report a case of a young girl presenting generalized convulsions at 10 days of life. Subsequent mutation analysis by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography of MECP2 and CDKL5 genes revealed heterozygosity for a c.47_48insAGG insertion in exon 1 of MECP2 and heterozygosity for a new nonsense mutation p.Q834X and a new missense variant p.V999M in the CDKL5 gene. Co-segregation analysis showed that the nonsense mutation was a de novo mutation and that the insertion and the missense variant were also found in the asymptomatic mother. In the absence of skewed X inactivation in the mother, it is likely that these last two variants are not pathogenic. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from lymphoblastoid cells of the patient showed only the transcript without the nonsense and missense variations suggesting decreased stability of mature mRNA by nonsense-mediated decay. These data also suggest an occurrence of the de novo mutation in maternal germ line cells. Moreover, this report reinforces the observation that the CDKL5 phenotype overlaps with Rett syndrome and that CDKL5 gene analysis is recommended in females with a seizure disorder commencing in the first weeks of life.