Case report: Atypical case of autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy following COVID-19 vaccination refractory to immunosuppressive treatments.

A 54-year-old Japanese man presented with headache and fever the day after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. He became deeply unconscious within a week. Brain MRI showed periventricular linear enhancements and a few spotty lesions in the cerebral white matter. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing showed mild pleocytosis. He was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone and plasma exchange. However, the white matter lesions enlarged to involve the brainstem and cerebellum, and long cord spinal lesions appeared. Anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibody was positive in the CSF and serum, and he was therefore diagnosed as autoimmune GFAP-astrocytopathy (GFAP-A). In addition, high-dose immunoglobulin therapy was administered twice, but his symptoms did not improve; the white matter lesions enlarged further, and modified Rankin Scale score increased to 5. A brain biopsy specimen showed infiltration of macrophages and CD4 + lymphocytes together with neuron and oligodendrocytic injuries and glial scar. Although GFAP-A generally responds well to steroids, the present case developed GFAP-A following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, with refractory to intensive immunosuppressive therapy and atypical pathologic findings of infiltration of CD4 + lymphocytes and demyelination.

Recurrent embolic stroke associated with adenomyosis: A single case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Uterine adenomyosis is a benign disorder in which endometrial glands and stroma are present within the myometrium. There have been several case reports of cerebral infarction associated with adenomyosis, but their clinical characteristics, optimal treatment, and prognosis have not been systematically reviewed. METHODS: A case of cerebral infarction with adenomyosis is reported, and a comprehensive systematic literature search using the PubMed database was conducted. RESULTS: A 42-year-old woman, previously diagnosed with adenomyosis, developed multiple cerebral infarctions during menstruation. Her CA125 level was 293 U/mL, and treatment with edoxaban 30 mg was started. Seven days after hospital discharge, she had her subsequent menstrual period and then developed a recurrent stroke. Her CA125 level was 743 U/mL on readmission. A hysterectomy was performed, and the patient has had no further stroke recurrence. A systematic review identified 19 cases with cerebral infarction associated with adenomyosis, including the present case. The patients' clinical characteristics included young age (44.7 ± 6.2 years), stroke development during menstruation (85%), multiple infarctions affecting ≥ 3 vessel territories (39%), and high levels of CA125 and D-dimer (810.6 ± 888.4 U/mL, and 10.3 ± 18.6 µg/mL, respectively). Antithrombotic therapy was given to 14 patients, but recurrent stroke occurred in 5 (36%) patients. Hysterectomy was conducted in 5 and 4 patients with initial and recurrent stokes, respectively, and there were no further recurrences thereafter. CONCLUSION: Cerebral infarction associated with adenomyosis has specific clinical characteristics. Antithrombotic therapy was insufficient, and hysterectomy should particularly be considered in cases of recurrent stroke.

[A case of ataxic gait disturbance due to 1-bromopropane neurotoxicity].

A 55-year-old man presented a slowly progressive sensory disorder, predominantly in both lower limbs, and gait disturbance. Neurological examinations revealed abnormal sensation and spasticity in both lower limbs, and a wide-based gait. Although examination revealed mild hyperchloremia and decreased motor conduction velocity in the peroneal nerve, head and whole spine MRI, and spinal fluid examination were normal. His job history revealed he had been engaged in metal cleaning work using 1-bromopropane (1-BP) for three years. His serum bromide concentration was increased to 175.6 mg/l (standard value: 5 or less), so we diagnosed him as having 1-BP neurotoxicity. The serum bromide concentration decreased after avoidance of exposure to 1-BP, but the gait disturbance remained. It was considered that we should obtain a detailed job history and measure the serum bromide concentration in patients with a sensory disorder in the extremities and gait disturbance of unknown origin.

Novel SLC9A6 Variation in Female Carriers With Intellectual Disability and Atypical Parkinsonism.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Variations in SLC9A6 cause the X-linked neurologic disorder Christianson syndrome in males. Meanwhile, female carriers with SLC9A6 variations may remain asymptomatic or develop intellectual disability, behavioral problems, and psychiatric illnesses. Only a few female carriers have been reported to have associated atypical parkinsonism in late life. METHODS: We present a Japanese family with a novel SLC9A6 variation identified by quad whole-exome sequencing analysis and a reverse phenotyping strategy. The molecular and cellular impacts of the W89R variation in vitro were examined. RESULTS: The missense variation (c.265T>C, p.Trp89Arg) in SLC9A6 cosegregated with atypical parkinsonism and intellectual disability in female carriers of this family. The female carriers in this family presented with bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor, predominately on the right side. We found that the W89R variation changed membrane traffic of NHE6-harboring vesicles, indicating potential involvement in the disease pathogenesis. DISCUSSION: This study might have revealed an example of a monogenic origin of atypical parkinsonism in females with SLC9A6 variations and draw attention to this understudied female-specific phenotype in clinical practice.

Chédiak-Higashi syndrome presenting as a hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) comprise a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by weakness and leg spasticity. LYST is responsible for Chédiak-Higashi syndrome (CHS), which exhibits partial oculocutaneous albinism, primary immunodeficiency, and bleeding tendency in childhood. Although neurological symptoms of CHS also appear in adulthood, a phenotype of spastic paraplegia has rarely been reported in CHS. In this study, we investigated LYST mutations in 387 HSP patients through the Japan Spastic Paraplegia Research Consortium to clarify the frequency of LYST mutations in HSP, finding six adult patients with LYST mutations in four HSP families. They exhibited intellectual disability, cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, and pyramidal signs. Meanwhile, only 15 patients with CHS in childhood have been revealed in a decade by a nationwide survey in Japan. Thus, LYST mutations might indicate a HSP phenotype in a considerable number of adult patients with CHS.

[A patient with recurrent multiloculated hydrocephalus after Cryptococcal ventriculitis].

We report here a rare case of adult-onset multiloculated hydrocephalus (MLH) after Cryptococcal meningitis. A 63-year-old man had Cryptococcal ventriculitis in 2011, and he recovered with treatment of antimycotic drugs. However, he was admitted again because of disorientation and amnesia, and brain MRI showed dilation of the inferior horn of the left lateral ventricle. He underwent a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) for noncommunicating hydrocephalus in 2019, and the disorientation and amnesia improved. One year after the VPS, he was admitted because of urinary dysfunction and gait disturbance. Brain MRI showed dilation of the bilateral anterior horns of the lateral ventricles. He underwent an additional VPS into the space in 2020, and urinary dysfunction and gait disturbance improved. This case was supposed that the symptom in agreement with the dilated ventricle by MLH was shown.

A Novel Heterozygous Missense Variant in the CIAO1 Gene in a Family with Alzheimer's Disease: The Val67Ile Variant Promotes the Interaction of CIAO1 and Amyloid-ß Protein Precursor.

Familial dementia is a rare inherited disease involving progressive impairment of memory, thinking, and behavior. We report a novel heterozygous pathogenic variant (c.199G > A, p.Val67Ile) in the CIAO1 gene that appears to be co-segregated with Alzheimer's disease in a Japanese family. Biochemical analysis of CIAO1 protein revealed that the variant increases the interaction of CIAO1 with immature amyloid-ß protein precursor (AßPP), but not mature or soluble AßPP, indicating plausible CIAO1 involvement in AßPP processing. Our study indicates that a heterozygous variant in the CIAO1 gene may be closely related to autosomal dominant familial dementia.

Sympathetic nerve outflow to skin in a case with dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy.

Dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia. Previously, autonomic symptoms or dysfunction have not been reported. To evaluate subclinical autonomic dysfunction regarding thermoregulatory function in SCA, we recorded sympathetic outflow to skin in a DRPLA patient confirmed by genetic analysis. We recorded skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA), which was elicited and recorded by using the microneurographical technique. In results, the resting frequency of SSNA bursts was very low (8.2 ± 0.4 bursts/min [institutional normal range: 20.8 ± 2.4 bursts/min]). However, acceleration of SSNA bursts induced by mental arithmetic stress was confirmed. The amplitude of reflex bursts induced by electrical stimuli was slightly low (9.6 ± 1.6 µV [institutional normal range: 10.9 ± 2.2 µV]), and the reflex latency was mildly prolonged (872 ± 23.7 msec [institutional normal range: 761.9 ± 51.7 msec]). These results suggest potentially central autonomic dysfunction in this patient with DRPLA. To our knowledge, this is the first report to record SSNA and confirm subclinical autonomic dysfunction in a case with DRPLA.

Age-related changes in blood pressure and heart rates of patients with Parkinson's disease.

This study evaluated yearly changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rates (HR) for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Data were collected for the last 10 years from medical records of 28 PD patients and 30 non-PD patients with other neurological disorders. Age-related changes in each group were analyzed by year using mean values of SBP, DBP, and HR obtained at their bi-monthly visits. In results, PD patients had a gradual decrease in SBP with longer disease duration, and mean SBP significantly decreased from Year 7-11 compared to the mean values for Year 1 (p < .001 or p < .01). In non-PD patients, mean SBP significantly increased from Year 4-11 compared to the mean values for Year 1 (p < .001 or p < .01). This is the first study to report age-related changes of BP in individual patients with PD over 10 years.

RFC1 repeat expansion in Japanese patients with late-onset cerebellar ataxia.

Recently, the expansion of an intronic AAGGG repeat in the replication factor C subunit 1 (RFC1) gene was reported to cause cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy, vestibular areflexia syndrome (CANVAS). In Europeans, the expansion accounted for 22% of sporadic patients with late-onset ataxia. We genotyped 37 Japanese patients comprising 25 familial (autosomal recessive or undecided transmission) and 12 sporadic ones with late-onset ataxia. We found intronic repeat expansions in RFC1 in three (12%) of the familial patients and one (8.5%) of the sporadic ones. Although our cohort study was small, the disease frequency in Japanese patients with CANVAS might be lower than that in European ones. In addition, we found biallelic ACAGG repeat expansion in one patient, indicating ACAGG repeat expansion might cause CANVAS. Clinically, we found one patient with sleep apnea syndrome, which has not been reported previously. Thus, this study might expand the clinical and genetic spectrum of CANVAS.

Sympathetic outflow to skin predicts central autonomic dysfunction in multiple system atrophy.

BACKGROUND: To find out the physiological method for evaluating the severity of central autonomic dysfunction, we performed detailed evaluation of cutaneous vasomotor neural function in a comparatively large sample of multiple system atrophy (MSA). METHODS: We evaluated cutaneous vasomotor neural function in 24 MSA patients. Skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA) and sympathetic skin response (SSR) and skin blood flow (skin vasomotor reflex [SVR]) were recorded at rest, as well as reflex changes after electrical stimulation. The parameters investigated were SSNA frequency at rest, reflex latency and amplitude of SSNA reflex bursts, absolute decrease and percent reduction of SVR, recovery time, and spontaneous SVR and SSR frequency. RESULTS: There were negative correlations between resting SSNA and disease duration or the SCOPA-AUT score, but these were not significant. SSNA reflex latency displayed significant positive correlations with disease duration and SCOPA-AUT score (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). In all five patients who underwent the same examination twice, SSNA reflex latency was significantly longer at the second examination than at the first examination (p < 0.005). A significant positive correlation was identified between recovery time of skin blood flow and SCOPA-AUT score or reflex latency (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were not observed between SCOPA-AUT score or disease duration and other parameters. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that some MSA patients with a comparatively short duration of disease potentially have impaired thermoregulatory function. Measurement of sympathetic outflow to the skin is potentially a useful tool for predicting the severity of central autonomic dysfunction in MSA.

Pathological findings in a patient with non-dystrophic myotonia with a mutation of the SCN4A gene; a case report.

BACKGROUND: Non-dystrophic myotonias (NDMs) are skeletal muscle disorders involving myotonia distinct from myotonic dystrophy. It has been reported that the muscle pathology is usually normal or comprises mild myopathic changes in NDMs. We describe various pathological findings mimicking those of myotonic dystrophy (DM) in biopsied muscle specimens from a patient with NDMs with a long disease duration. CASE PRESENTATION: A 66-year-old Japanease man presented eye closure myotonia, percussion myotonia and grip myotonia together with the warm-up phenomenon and cold aggravation from early childhood. On genetic analysis, a heterozygous mutation of the SCN4A gene (c.2065 C > T, p.L689F), with no mutation of the CLCN1, DMPK, or ZNF9/CNBP gene, was detected. He was diagnosed as having NDMs. A biopsy of the biceps brachii muscle showed increasing fiber size variation, internal nuclei, chained nuclei, necrotic fibers, fiber splitting, endomysial fibrosis, pyknotic nuclear clumps and disorganized intermyofibrillar networks. Sarcoplasmic masses, tubular aggregates and ragged-red fibers were absent. CONCLUSION: It is noteworthy that the present study revealed various pathological findings resembling those seen in DM, although the pathology is usually normal or mild in NDMs. The pathological similarities may be due to muscular modification with long-standing myotonia or excessive muscle contraction based on abnormal channel activity.

Non-convulsive status epilepticus associated with neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease: A case report and literature review.

We report a case of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) confirmed by detection of intranuclear inclusions in a skin biopsy specimen. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed mild cerebral atrophy and linear hyperintensities at the corticomedullary junction on diffusion-weighted images. This patient developed nonconvulsive status epilepticus with generalized periodic discharges on electroencephalography after recurrent symptoms of paroxysmal nausea and slowly progressive cognitive decline. There have been no previous reports of NIID with nonconvulsive status epilepticus to our knowledge. Since adult patients with NIID display a wide variety of clinical manifestations, skin biopsy should be considered in patients who have leukoencephalopathy of unknown origin.

Exome Sequencing Reveals a Novel Homozygous Frameshift Mutation in the CYP7B1 Gene in a Japanese Patient with SPG5.

SPG5 is a rare subtype of autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia caused by a homozygous mutation in the oxysterol 7α-hydroxylase gene, CYP7B1. We describe the first Japanese patient with SPG5 with a novel mutation in the CYP7B1 gene. On exome sequencing, we identified a homozygous frameshift mutation, c.741delA, p.K247fs, in exon 3 of the CYP7B1 gene. The patient showed spastic paraparesis with white matter hyperintensities in the bilateral corona radiata and periventricular and subcortical regions on brain magnetic resonance imaging. The present study expands the mutation spectrum of CYP7B1 and provides an opportunity to study the genotype-phenotype correlation in SPG5.

Neuroimaging, genetic, and enzymatic study in a Japanese family with a GBA gross deletion.

INTRODUCTION: Glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) variants are associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases with GBA variants, however, are not well understood. In order to determine the effect of a deletion mutation in GBA, we performed a neuroimaging, genetic, and enzymatic study in a Japanese family with a gross deletion of exons 3 to 11 in GBA. METHODS: We performed [123I] FP-CIT SPECT and [123I] N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine SPECT (IMP-SPECT), and determined GBA expression and glucocerebrosidase (GCase) activity in leukocytes in two GBA-associated PD patients and nine unaffected individuals (including four mutation carriers) in a Japanese family with a heterozygous gross deletion mutation in the GBA gene. RESULTS: The two PD patients and two of the four clinically unaffected carriers showed decreased [123I] FP-CIT uptake. IMP-SPECT showed a pattern like that in DLB in one patient. When we compared PD patients with GBA mutations with clinically unaffected carriers, there was a poor correlation between the development of PD and the expression level of GBA or GCase activity. CONCLUSION: We confirmed the gross deletion mutation in the GBA gene, which appeared to be associated with the PD or reduced [123I] FP-CIT in this family. However, since we cannot conclude whether a reduction of GCase activity is directly correlated with the pathogenesis of PD or not, longitudinal follow-up of this family is needed.

Novel GARS mutation presenting as autosomal dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

We report the first family with a glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS) mutation with autosomal dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (DI-CMT). The proband and the proband's father presented with gait disturbance and hand weakness. Both patients displayed moderately decreased conduction velocities (MNCV) (ranging from 29.2 to 37.8 m/s). A sural nerve biopsy of the father revealed evidence of both axonal loss and demyelination. On exome sequencing, in both the proband and his father, we identified a novel missense mutation (c.643G > C, p.Asp215His) in the GARS gene in a heterozygous state, which is considered to be pathogenic for this DI-CMT family. The present study broadens current knowledge about intermediate CMT and the phenotypic spectrum of defects associated with GARS.

[A case of local tetanus presenting spastic paraplegia mimicking myelitis].

A 35-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of suspected myelitis. T2-weighted spinal MRI revealed a high intensity area at Th7-9. On admission, he showed mild weakness of the lower extremities and hyperreflexia of all extremities. Therefore, he was diagnosed with having spastic paraplegia. He presented no trismus or opisthotonos. There was pleocytosis in the cerebral spinal fluid. Dysuria, constipation and spasticity of the bilateral legs worsened, even though we administered methylprednisolone pulse therapy. Nonetheless, the symptoms had progressed on the 11th hospital day, opisthotonus and optic hyperesthesia were presented. On the 13th hospital day, we suspected local tetanus and administered tetanus toxoid. After one month, his symptoms had gradually improved. In the case of spastic paraplegia showing a subacute progression course and a faint abnormality on spinal MRI, the possibility of local tetanus should be considered.