Comprehensive analysis of morbidity and mortality patterns in familial partial lipodystrophy patients: insights from a population study.

Background: There is a lack of information on the clinical and molecular presentation of familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD), a rare genetic disorder characterized by partial subcutaneous fat loss. Objective: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the clinical, metabolic, and genetic features of FPLD in the Brazilian population. Methods: In a multicenter cross-sectional investigation we evaluated patients with FPLD across five Brazilian reference centers for lipodystrophies. Diagnosis of FPLD was made by clinical evaluation and genetic confirmation. Data on genetic, clinical, and metabolic characteristics were captured. Statistical analysis involved the utilization of the Kruskal-Wallis test to identify differences. Results: The study included 106 patients with genetic confirmation of FPLD. The mean age was 44 ± 15 years, and they were predominantly female (78.3%). LMNA pathogenic variants were identified in 85.8% of patients, PPARG in 10.4%, PLIN1 in 2.8%, and MFN2 in 0.9%. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was highly prevalent (57.5%), affecting 54 females (50.9%). Median triglycerides levels were 199 mg/dL (54-2724 mg/dL), severe hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 500 mg/dL) was found in 34.9% and pancreatitis in 8.5%. Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) was observed in 56.6%, and cardiovascular disease in 10.4%. The overall mortality rate was 3.8%, due to cardiovascular events. Conclusion: This study presents an extensive cohort of Brazilian patients with FPLD, predominantly DM with several multisystem complications. A comprehensive characterization of lipodystrophy syndromes is crucial for effective patient management and care.

Síndrome Berardinelli / Berardinelli syndrome

El síndrome Berardinelli es una enfermedad poco frecuente, con amplia heterogeneidad clínica y genética, clínicamente caracterizada por pérdida de tejido adiposo a nivel subcutáneo y de otros tejidos. Esta lipodistrofia generalizada congénita provoca hipertrofia muscular, asociada a trastornos endocrinos, con crecimiento acelerado durante la infancia, pubertad precoz e hiperglicemia. Está considerada una enfermedad metabólica rara, que se hereda de forma autosómico recesiva. En la actualidad se describen 4 variantes de este síndrome, con varios genes implicados. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir las características clínicas en una niña, en la cual su aspecto fenotípico recuerda este síndrome, por la lipodistrofia marcada y aumento de la musculatura desde la etapa de lactante, por lo cual se consideró necesaria la valoración en equipo multidisciplinario para su adecuado seguimiento y asesoramiento genético a sus familiares(AU)

Berardinelli syndrome is a rare disease, with broad clinical and genetic heterogeneity, and clinically characterized by loss of fatty tissue at subcutaneous level and of other tissues. This generalized congenital lipodystrophy causes muscle hypertrophy associated to endocrine disorders, accelerated growth at childhood, early puberty and hyperglycemia. It is considered as a rare metabolic disease and also recessive autosomal inheritance. Nowadays, four variants of the syndrome are described in which several gens are involved. The objective of this paper was to describe the clinical characteristics of a girl whose phenotypical aspect resembles this syndrome due to the marked lipodystrophy and increased musculature since her breastfeeding phase. Therefore, it was necessary to make an assessment by a multidisciplinary team for her adequate follow-up and the genetic counselling to her family(AU)

A new method for body fat evaluation, body adiposity index, is useful in women with familial partial lipodystrophy.

BMI is a widely used method to evaluate adiposity. However, it has several limitations, particularly an inability to differentiate lean from fat mass. A new method, body adiposity index (BAI), has been recently proposed as a new measurement capable to determine fat excess better than BMI. The aim of this study was to investigate BAI as a mean to evaluate adiposity in a group of women with familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD) and compare it with BMI. Thirteen women with FLPD Dunnigan type (FPLD2) and 13 healthy volunteers matched by age and BMI were studied. Body fat content and distribution were analyzed by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Plasma leptin was also measured. BAI was significantly lower in FPLD2 in comparison to control group (24.6 ± 1.5 vs. 30.4 ± 4.3; P < 0.001) and presented a more significant correlation with total fat (%) (r = 0.71; P < 0.001) and fat Mass (g) (r = 0.80; P < 0.001) than BMI (r = 0.27; P = 0.17 for total fat and r = 0.52; P = 0.006 for fat mass). There was a correlation between leptin and BAI (r = 0.57; P = 0.01), [corrected] but not between leptin and BMI. In conclusion, BAI was able to catch differences in adiposity in a sample of FPLD2 patients. It also correlated better with leptin levels than BMI. Therefore, we provide further evidence that BAI may become a more reliable indicator of fat mass content than the currently available measurements.