Novel homozygous inactivating mutation of the calcium-sensing receptor gene (CASR) in neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism-lack of effect of cinacalcet.

BACKGROUND: NSHPT is a life-threatening disorder caused by homozygous inactivating calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) mutations. In some cases, the CaSR allosteric activator, cinacalcet, may reduce serum PTH and calcium levels, but surgery is the treatment of choice. OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of NSHPT unresponsive to cinacalcet. PATIENT AND RESULTS: A 23-day-old girl was admitted with hypercalcemia, hypotonia, bell-shaped chest and respiratory distress. The parents were first-degree cousins once removed. Serum Ca was 4.75 mmol/l (N: 2.10-2.62), P: 0.83 mmol/l (1.55-2.64), PTH: 1096 pg/ml (9-52) and urinary Ca/Cr ratio: 0.5mg/mg. First, calcitonin was given (10 IU/kg × 4/day), and then 2 days later, pamidronate (0.5mg/kg) for 2 days. Doses of cinacalcet were given daily from day 28 of life starting at 30 mg/m2 and increasing to 90 mg/m2 on day 43. On day 33, 6 days after pamidronate, serum Ca levels had fallen to 2.5 mmol/l but, thereafter, rose to 5 mmol/l despite the cinacalcet. Total parathyroidectomy was performed at day 45. Hungry bone disease after surgery required daily Ca replacement and calcitriol for 18 days. At 3 months, the girl was mildly hypercalcemic, with no supplementation, and at 6 months, she developed hypocalcemia and has since been maintained on Ca and calcitriol. By CASR mutation analysis, the infant was homozygous and both parents heterozygous for a deletion-frameshift mutation. CONCLUSION: The predicted nonfunctional CaSR is consistent with lack of response to cinacalcet, but total parathyroidectomy was successful. An empiric trial of the drug and/or prompt mutation testing should help minimize the period of unnecessary pharmacotherapy.

Identification and functional characterization of a novel mutation in the calcium-sensing receptor gene in familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia: modulation of clinical severity by vitamin D status.

CONTEXT: Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) is a benign condition associated with heterogeneous inactivating mutations in the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) gene. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify and characterize a CASR mutation in a moderately hypercalcemic, hyperparathyroid individual and his family and assess the influence of vitamin D status on the clinical expression of the defect. SUBJECTS: We studied a kindred with FHH, in which the proband (a 34-yr-old male) was initially diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism due to frankly elevated serum PTH levels. METHODS: CASR gene mutation analysis was performed on genomic DNA of the proband and family members. The mutant CASR was functionally characterized by transient transfection studies in kidney cells in vitro. RESULTS: A novel heterozygous mutation (F180C, TTC>TGC) in exon 4 of the CASR gene was identified. Although the mutant receptor was expressed normally at the cell surface, it was unresponsive with respect to intracellular signaling (MAPK activation) to increases in extracellular calcium concentrations. The baby daughter of the proband presented with neonatal hyperparathyroidism with markedly elevated PTH. Vitamin D supplementation of both the proband and the baby resulted in reduction of serum PTH levels to the normal range. The serum calcium level remained at a constant and moderately elevated level. CONCLUSION: The identification of a novel CASR gene mutation established the basis of the hypercalcemia in the kindred. Concomitant vitamin D deficiency modulates the severity of the presentation of FHH.

Functional characterization of calcium-sensing receptor codon 227 mutations presenting as either familial (benign) hypocalciuric hypercalcemia or neonatal hyperparathyroidism.

Familial benign hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FBHH), in which calcium homeostasis is disordered, can be distinguished from mild primary hyperparathyroidism by the finding of a heterozygous loss-of-function mutation in the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR). Here, we report a Polish kindred with FBHH, the proband of which had undergone an unsuccessful parathyroidectomy. Direct sequence analysis of exon 4 of her CASR gene identified a heterozygous R227Q mutation in the extracellular domain of the receptor. This mutation segregated with other affected family members. A de novo heterozygous R227L mutation had previously been identified in a case of neonatal hyperparathyroidism. We performed a functional analysis by transiently transfecting wild-type and mutant (R227Q, R227L) CaSRs in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells. Both mutant receptors were expressed at a similar level to that of the wild-type, demonstrated a 160-kDa molecular species consistent with having undergone full maturation, and were visualized on the cell surface. Although both mutants were impaired in their MAPK responses to increasing extracellular calcium concentrations relative to wild type, this was more marked for R227L (EC(50) = 9.7 mM) than R227Q (EC(50) = 7.9 mM) relative to wild type (EC(50) = 3.7 mM). When cotransfected with wild-type CaSR to mimic the heterozygous state, the curves for both R227Q and R227L were right shifted intermediate to the curves for wild type and the respective mutant. This differential responsiveness may account, in part, for the markedly different clinical presentation of the R227Q mutation, classic FBHH, vs. the neonatal hyperparathyroidism of the R227L mutation.