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Dominant intermediate Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy subtype C (DI-CMTC) was associated with mutations in the YARS gene, encoding tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, in two large unrelated Bulgarian and US pedigrees and one sporadic case. Here for the first time we describe the clinical, neurophysiological and histopathological features, and phenotypic differences between these two DI-CMTC families. Twenty-one affected individuals from the US family and 27 from the Bulgarian family were evaluated. The mean age of onset in US subjects was 10.7 years in men and 7.3 years in women, while in the Bulgarian participants it was 18.2 years in men and 33.7 years in women. The course was slowly progressive. Extensor digitorum brevis atrophy was uniform. Atrophy and/or weakness of upper and lower limb muscles were found in over 50 % of the subjects. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) were abnormal in all US adults and five of six children and all Bulgarian patients except one asymptomatic 25-year-old man. Median motor NCS were in the range of 29.5-45.6 m/s in the US family and 24.7-57.8 m/s in the Bulgarian family. Sural sensory nerve action potentials were absent in 14/21 and 4/12 NCS from adult US and Bulgarian participants, respectively. Analysis of sural nerve biopsies from US patients revealed age-dependent morphological changes of axonal degeneration, absence of onion bulbs, and <10 % fibers with segmental remyelination. Our findings provide further insights into the diagnosis and pathology of intermediate CMT. They also extend the phenotypic spectrum of peripheral neuropathies associated with aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations.

Autosomal recessive forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (ARCMT) are rare but severe disorders of the peripheral nervous system. Their molecular basis is poorly understood due to the extensive genetic and clinical heterogeneity, posing considerable challenges for patients, physicians, and researchers. We report on the genetic findings from a systematic study of a large collection of 174 independent ARCMT families. Initial sequencing of the three most common ARCMT genes (ganglioside-induced differentiation protein 1—GDAP1, SH3 domain and tetratricopeptide repeats-containing protein 2—SH3TC2, histidine-triad nucleotide binding protein 1—HINT1) identified pathogenic mutations in 41 patients. Subsequently, 87 selected nuclear families underwent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping and homozygosity mapping, followed by targeted screening of known ARCMT genes. This strategy provided molecular diagnosis to 22% of the families. Altogether, our unbiased genetic approach identified pathogenic mutations in ten ARCMT genes in a total of 41.3% patients. Apart from a newly described founder mutation in GDAP1, the majority of variants constitute private molecular defects. Since the gene testing was independent of the clinical phenotype of the patients, we identified mutations in patients with unusual or additional clinical features, extending the phenotypic spectrum of the SH3TC2 gene. Our study provides an overview of the ARCMT genetic landscape and proposes guidelines for tackling the genetic heterogeneity of this group of hereditary neuropathies.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterised by the degeneration of motor neurons and progressive muscle weakness. It is caused by homozygous deletions in the survival motor neuron gene on chromosome 5. SMA shows a wide range of clinical severity, with SMA type I patients often dying before 2 years of age, whereas type III patients experience less severe clinical manifestations and can have a normal life span. Here, we describe the design, setup and utilisation of the TREAT-NMD national SMA patient registries characterised by a small, but fully standardised set of registry items and by genetic confirmation in all patients. We analyse a selection of clinical items from the SMA registries in order to provide a snapshot of the clinical data stratified by SMA subtype, and compare these results with published recommendations on standards of care. Our study included 5,068 SMA patients in 25 countries. A total of 615 patients were ventilated, either invasively (178) or non-invasively (437), 439 received tube feeding and 455 had had scoliosis surgery. Some of these interventions were not available to patients in all countries, but differences were also noted among high-income countries with comparable wealth and health care systems. This study provides the basis for further research, such as quality of life in ventilated SMA patients, and will inform clinical trial planning.

A recent report (Vermeer et al. in Am J Hum Genet 87:813-819, 2010) implicated for the first time the ANO10 gene in the genetic basis of autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxias. One of the three described families were Roma/Gypsies from Serbia, where the affected individuals were homozygous for the truncating p.Leu384fs mutation and displayed distinct phenotypic features (Vermeer et al. in Am J Hum Genet 87:813-819, 2010). Based on the history and population genetics of the Roma/Gypsies, we hypothesised that p.Leu384fs could be another founder mutation in this population, whose identification in a larger number of genetically homogeneous patients will contribute to defining the phenotypic spectrum of the disorder. Here, we describe additional patients from neighbouring Bulgaria, outlining invariable ANO10-ataxia features and confirming global intellectual decline as part of the phenotype resulting from complete Anactomin 10 deficit.

Congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of inherited disorders of the neuromuscular junction. A difficult to diagnose subgroup of CMS is characterised by proximal muscle weakness and fatigue while ocular and facial involvement is only minimal. DOK7 mutations have been identified as causing the disorder in about half of the cases. More recently, using classical positional cloning, we have identified mutations in a previously unrecognised CMS gene, GFPT1, in a series of DOK7-negative cases. However, detailed description of clinical features of GFPT1 patients has not been reported yet. Here we describe the clinical picture of 24 limb-girdle CMS (LG-CMS) patients and pathological findings of 18 of them, all carrying GFPT1 mutations. Additional patients with CMS, but without tubular aggregates, and patients with non-fatigable weakness with tubular aggregates were also screened. In most patients with GFPT1 mutations, onset of the disease occurs in the first decade of life with characteristic limb-girdle weakness and fatigue. A common feature was beneficial and sustained response to acetylcholinesterase inhibitor treatment. Most of the patients who had a muscle biopsy showed tubular aggregates in myofibers. Analysis of endplate morphology in one of the patients revealed unspecific abnormalities. Our study delineates the phenotype of CMS associated with GFPT1 mutations and expands the understanding of neuromuscular junction disorders. As tubular aggregates in context of a neuromuscular transmission defect appear to be highly indicative, we suggest calling this condition congenital myasthenic syndrome with tubular aggregates (CMS-TA).

Slow-channel congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS) is a rare subtype of CMS caused by dominant "gain of function" mutations in the acetylcholine receptor. Clinically, the cervical and forearm extensor muscles seem to be preferentially weaker; and conventional treatment with anticholinesterases fails to improve symptoms. In contrast, open channel blockers such as fluoxetine and quinidine have been shown to be of benefit. The objectives of our study were to provide further insight into the clinical features of slow-channel CMS and evaluate response to recommended therapy. We carried out a retrospective clinical follow up study of 15 slow-channel CMS patients referred to the Munich CMS Centre. Detailed clinical data were collected by clinicians involved in the care of each patient, with a particular focus on response and tolerability to recommended therapy. Patients varied widely as regard onset of symptoms, severity of disease and mutations involved. Patients received up to four different medications and some had none. Our results strengthen previous reported findings in terms of clinical phenotype variability and the poor response to pyridostigmine. Although treatment with fluoxetine was beneficial in most patients, a number of our patients suffered significant adverse effects that hindered optimum dose titration or led to treatment cessation. Slow-channel CMS is rare and exhibits distinct clinical and genetic characteristics. Our study suggests that fluoxetine, despite being effective in most patients, can be associated with significant side effects, thus reducing treatment effectiveness in clinical practice.

Over 40 mutations in the GDAP1 gene have been shown to segregate with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). Among these, only two mutations, i.e., S194X and Q163X have been reported in a sufficient number of CMT families to allow for the construction of reliable phenotype-genotype correlations. Both the S194X and Q163X mutations have been shown to segregate with an early-onset and severe neuropathy resulting in loss of ambulance at the beginning of the second decade of life. In this study, we identified the L239F mutation in the GDAP1 gene in one Bulgarian and five Polish families. We hypothesized that the L239F mutation may result from a founder effect in the European population since this mutation has previously been reported in Belgian, Czech, and Polish patients. In fact, we detected a common disease-associated haplotype within the 8q13-q21 region in the Polish, German, Italian, Czech, and Bulgarian CMT families. Like the previously detected "regional" S194X and Q163X mutations, respectively present in Maghreb countries and in patients of Spanish descent, the L239F mutation seems to be the most common GDAP1 pathogenic variant in the Central and Eastern European population. Given the likely presence of a common ancestor harboring the L239F mutation, we decided to compare the phenotypes of the CMT (L239F) patients collected in this study with those of previously reported cases. In contrast to CMT4A caused by the S194X and Q163X mutations, the CMT phenotype resulting from the L239F substitution represents a milder clinical entity with a long-preserved period of ambulance at least until the end of the second decade of life.