ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of patients with late-onset subtypes (adolescent or adult) of Krabbe disease.Methods:The clinical data of 7 patients with Krabbe disease admitted to Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People′s Hospital and Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from September 2006 to June 2021 were analyzed and Sanger sequencing of the galactosylceramidase (GALC) gene (NM_000153) and detection of the activity of GALC were conducted. A total of 61 cases of Krabbe disease reported in domestic literature were reviewed and summarized.Results:Among the 7 patients with Krabbe disease, there were 4 males and 3 females. All of them had lower limb weakness or walking difficulty as the initial symptoms, and presented as spastic paraplegia. The symptoms were relatively mild in patients with late onset. There were 4 out of 5 patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging examination, who showed abnormal signals: 2 had brain atrophy and the remaining 2 had white matter lesions. A total of 5 GALC gene mutations were detected by genetic analysis. Among these, c.1901T>C (p.L634S), c.908C>T(p.S303F) and c.461C>A(p.P154H) are known variants, while c.50_51insTT (p.M17Ifs) and c.1130delT(p.L337X) are novel variants reported for the first time in this paper.Conclusions:Krabbe disease is a rare neurodegenerative disease with phenotypic heterogeneity, which is inherited in an autosomal recessive mode. The severity of clinical manifestations of Krabbe disease is correlated with the age of onset.
ABSTRACT
Krabbe disease (globoid cell leukodystrophy) is an inherited recessive autosomal leukodystrophy caused by deficiency of the enzyme galactocerebrosidase. The lack of this enzyme leads to the build-up of galactolipids that will promote the death of oligodendrocytes and the demyelination of the central and peripheral nervous systems. There are two clinical forms: early onset and late onset. This article reports a case of late onset Krabbe disease and discusses the importance of early diagnosis for its prognosis.
Doença de Krabbe (leucodistrofia de células globoides) é uma leucodistrofia de herança autossômica recessiva causada pela deficiência da enzima galactocerebrosidase. A falta dessa enzima leva ao acúmulo de galactolipídeos que irão promover a morte dos oligodendrócitos e a desmielinização do sistema nervoso central e periférico. Possui duas formas clínicas: de início precoce e de aparecimento tardio. O presente artigo relata um caso da apresentação tardia da doença de Krabbe e discute a importância do diagnóstico precoce para o seu prognóstico.