Epidemiology of Fabry disease in patients in hemodialysis in the Madrid community.

This study screened for Fabry disease (FD) in patients in hemodialysis (HD) in the region of Madrid (CAM) with a cross-sectional design to evaluate HD-prevalent patients, followed by a three-year period prospective design to analyze HD-incident patients. INCLUSION CRITERIA: patients older than 18 years on HD in the CAM, excluding patients diagnosed with any other hereditary disease with renal involvement different from FD, that sign the Informed Consent (IC). EXCLUSION CRITERIA: underaged patients or not agreeing or not being capable of signing the IC. RESULTS: 3470 patients were included, 63% males and with an average age of 67.9±9.7 years. 2357 were HD-prevalent patients and 1113 HD-incident patients. For HD-prevalent patients, average time in HD was 45.2 months (SD 51.3), in HD-incident patients proteinuria was present in 28.4%. There were no statistical differences in plasmatic alpha-galactosidase A (α-GAL-A) activity or Lyso-GL-3 values when comparing HD-prevalent and HD-incident populations and neither between males and females. A genetic study was performed in 87 patients (2.5% of patients): 60 male patients with decreased enzymatic activity and 27 female patients either with a decreased GLA activity, increased Lyso-Gl3 levels or both. The genetic variants identified were: p.Asp313Tyr (4 patients), p.Arg220Gln (3 patients) and M290I (1 patient). None of the identified variants is pathogenic. CONCLUSIONS: 76% of HD Centers of the CAM participated in the study. This is the first publication to describe the prevalence of FD in the HD-population of a region of Spain as well as its average α-GAL-A-activity and plasmatic Lyso-Gl3 levels. It is also the first study that combines a cross-sectional design with a prospective follow-up design. This study has not identified any FD patient.

Tufted angioma with associated Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon caused by somatic mutation in GNA14.

Tufted angioma (TA) is a rare vascular tumor characterized by histologic tufts of proliferating capillaries that occurs in infancy or early childhood, with a poorly understood pathogenesis. Though benign, TA can be associated with the Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon (KMP), a life-threatening consumptive coagulopathy and thrombocytopenia. Here, we explored the genetic mechanism underlying a case of TA associated with KMP via targeted sequencing of laser capture micro-dissected lesion and blood DNA, and identified a somatic, activating GNA14 mutation specific to the tumor. Our findings support aberrant GNA14 activation underlies the pathogenesis of TA associated with KMP.

Resting-state network disruption and APOE genotype in Alzheimer's disease: a lagged functional connectivity study.

BACKGROUND: The apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE-4) is associated with a genetic vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and with AD-related abnormalities in cortical rhythms. However, it is unclear whether APOE-4 is linked to a specific pattern of intrinsic functional disintegration of the brain after the development of the disease or during its different stages. This study aimed at identifying spatial patterns and effects of APOE genotype on resting-state oscillations and functional connectivity in patients with AD, using a physiological connectivity index called "lagged phase synchronization". METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Resting EEG was recorded during awake, eyes-closed state in 125 patients with AD and 60 elderly controls. Source current density and functional connectivity were determined using eLORETA. Patients with AD exhibited reduced parieto-occipital alpha oscillations compared with controls, and those carrying the APOE-4 allele had reduced alpha activity in the left inferior parietal and temporo-occipital cortex relative to noncarriers. There was a decreased alpha2 connectivity pattern in AD, involving the left temporal and bilateral parietal cortex. Several brain regions exhibited increased lagged phase synchronization in low frequencies, specifically in the theta band, across and within hemispheres, where temporal lobe connections were particularly compromised. Areas with abnormal theta connectivity correlated with cognitive scores. In patients with early AD, we found an APOE-4-related decrease in interhemispheric alpha connectivity in frontal and parieto-temporal regions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In addition to regional cortical dysfunction, as indicated by abnormal alpha oscillations, there are patterns of functional network disruption affecting theta and alpha bands in AD that associate with the level of cognitive disturbance or with the APOE genotype. These functional patterns of nonlinear connectivity may potentially represent neurophysiological or phenotypic markers of AD, and aid in early detection of the disorder.

Leukemic vasculitis: a rare pattern of leukemia cutis.

Although non-specific skin lesions are quite common in patients with leukemia, the specific infiltration of the skin by blast cells, known as leukemia cutis, is rare. Its incidence ranges from 1 to 50% and depends on the specific type of leukemia. Leukemic vasculitis represents a rare form of leukemia cutis consisting of the involvement and destruction of vessel walls by leukemic cells, which in themselves cause the vascular injury. To date, only few cases of leukemic vasculitis have been described. Here, we report two cases of this rare skin condition, one of which mimicked cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa.

Pharmacogenetic aspects of therapy with cholinesterase inhibitors: the role of CYP2D6 in Alzheimer's disease pharmacogenetics.

Recent studies demonstrate that the therapeutic response in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is genotype-specific. More than 200 genes are potentially associated with AD pathogenesis and neurodegeneration, and approximately 1,400 genes distributed across the human genome account for 20 to 95% of variability in drug disposition and pharmacodynamics. Cytochrome P450 enzymes encoded by genes of the CYP superfamily, such as CYP1A1 (15q22-q24), CYP2A6 (19q13.2), CYP2C8 (10q24), CYP2C9 (10q24), CYP2C19 (10q24.1-q24.3), CYP2D6 (22q13.1), CYP2E1 (10q24.3-qter), and CYP3A5 (7q22.1), acting as terminal oxidases in multicomponent electron transfer chains which are called P450-containing monooxygenase systems, metabolize more than 90% of drugs. Some of the enzymatic products of the CYP gene superfamily can share substrates, inhibitors and inducers whereas others are quite specific for their substrates and interacting drugs. Some cholinesterase inhibitors (tacrine, donepezil, galantamine) are metabolized via CYP-related enzymes, especially CYP2D6, CYP3A4, and CYP1A2. The distribution of CYP2D6 genotypes in the Spanish population is the following: (a) Extensive Metabolizers (EM)(51.61%): *1/*1, 47.10%; and *1/*10, 4.52%; (b) Intermediate Metabolizers (IM)(32.26%): *1/*3, 1.95%; *1/*4, 17.42%; *1/*5, 3.87%; *1/*6, 2.58%; *1/*7, 0.75%; *10/*10, 1.30%; *4/*10, 3.23%; *6/*10, 0.65%; and *7/*10, 0.65%; (b) Poor Metabolizers (PM)(9.03%): *4/*4, 8.37%; and *5/*5, 0.65%; and (c) Ultrarapid Metabolizers (UM)(7.10%): *1xN/*1, 4.52%; *1xN/*4, 1.95%; and CYP2D6 gene duplications, 0.65%. PMs and UMs also accumulate genotypes of risk associated with APOE-, PS-, ACE-, and PRNP-related genes. Approximately, 15% of the AD population may exhibit an abnormal metabolism of cholinesterase inhibitors; about 50% of this population cluster would show an ultrarapid metabolism, requiring higher doses of cholinesterase inhibitors to reach a therapeutic threshold, whereas the other 50% of the cluster would exhibit a poor metabolism, displaying potential adverse events at low doses. In AD patients treated with a multifactorial therapy, including cholinesterase inhibitors (e.g., donepezil), the best responders are the CYP2D6-related EMs and IMs, and the worst responders are PMs and UMs. In addition, the presence of the APOE-4 allele in genetic clusters integrating CYP2D6 and APOE genotypes contributes to deteriorate the therapeutic outcome. From these data, it can be postulated that pharmacogenetic and pharmacogenomic factors are responsible for 75-85% of the therapeutic response in AD patients treated with conventional drugs.