Search

Background Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type III (Sanfilippo syndrome) comprises a group of rare, lysosomal storage diseases caused by the deficiency of one of four enzymes involved in the degradation of heparan sulfate. The clinical hallmark of the disease is severe neurological deterioration leading to dementia and death in the second decade of life. Adult MPS patients are generally of short stature. To date there is no clear description of the physical development of MPS III patients. The aim of this study was to document growth reference data for MPS III patients. We collected growth data of 182 German MPS III patients and were able to develop growth charts for this cohort. Growth curves for height, weight, head circumference, and body mass index were calculated and compared to German reference charts. Results Birth height, weight and head circumference were within the physiological ranges. Both genders were significantly taller than healthy children at 2 years of age, while only male patients were taller at the age of four. Growth velocity decelerated after the ages of 4.5 and 5 years for female and male patients, respectively. Both genders were significantly shorter than the reference group at the age of 17.5 years. Head circumference was larger compared to healthy matched controls within the first 2 years of life and remained enlarged until physical maturity. Conclusion MPS III is a not yet treatable severe neuro-degenerative disease, developing new therapeutic strategies might change the course of the disease significantly. The present charts contribute to the understanding of the natural history of MPS III. Specific growth charts represent an important tool for families and physicians as the expected height at physical maturity can be estimated and therapeutic effects can be monitored. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13023-019-1065-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Moss-aGalactosidase A (moss-aGal) is a moss-derived version of human α-galactosidase developed for enzyme replacement therapy in patients with Fabry disease. It exhibits a homogenous N-glycosylation profile with >90% mannose-terminated glycans. In contrast to mammalian cell produced α-galactosidase, moss-aGal does not rely on mannose-6-phosphate receptor mediated endocytosis but targets the mannose receptor for tissue uptake. We conducted a phase 1 clinical trial with moss-aGal in six patients with confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease during a 28-day schedule. All patients received a single dose of 0.2 mg/kg moss-aGal by i.v.-infusion. Primary endpoints of the trial were safety and pharmacokinetics; secondary endpoints were pharmacodynamics by analyzing urine and plasma Gb3 and lyso-Gb3 concentrations. In all patients, the administered single dose was well tolerated. No safety issues were observed. Pharmacokinetic data revealed a stable nonlinear profile with a short plasma half-life of moss-aGal of 14 minutes. After one single dose of moss-aGal, urinary Gb3 concentrations decreased up to 23% 7 days and up to 60% 28 days post-dose. Plasma concentrations of lyso-Gb3 decreased by 3.8% and of Gb3 by 11% 28 days post-dose. These data reveal that a single dose of moss-aGal was safe, well tolerated, and led to a prolonged reduction of Gb3 excretion. As previously shown, moss-aGal is taken up via the mannose receptor, which is expressed on macrophages but also on endothelial and kidney cells. Thus, these data indicate that moss-aGal may target kidney cells. After these promising results, phase 2/3 clinical trials are in preparation.

Objective To evaluate the clinical presentation of patients with GM1 gangliosidosis and to determine whether specific clinical or biochemical signs could lead to a prompt diagnosis. Study design We retrospectively analyzed clinical, biochemical, and genetic data of 22 patients with GM1 gangliosidosis from 5 metabolic centers in Germany and Austria. Results Eight patients were classified as infantile, 11 as late-infantile, and 3 as juvenile form. Delay of diagnosis was 6 ± 2.6 months in the infantile, 2.6 ± 3.79 years in the late-infantile, and 14 ± 3.48 years in the juvenile form. Coarse facial features, cherry red spots, and visceromegaly occurred only in patients with the infantile form. Patients with the late-infantile and juvenile forms presented with variable neurologic symptoms. Seventeen patients presented with dystonia and 14 with dysphagia. Laboratory analysis revealed an increased ASAT concentration (13/20), chitotriosidase activity (12/15), and pathologic urinary oligosaccharides (10/19). Genotype analyses revealed 23 causative or likely causative mutations in 19 patients, 7 of them being novel variants. In the majority, a clear genotype–phenotype correlation was found. Conclusions Diagnosis of GM1 gangliosidosis often is delayed, especially in patients with milder forms of the disease. GM1 gangliosidosis should be considered in patients with progressive neurodegeneration and spastic-dystonic movement disorders, even in the absence of visceral symptoms or cherry red spots. ASAT serum concentrations and chitotriosidase activity may be of value in screening for GM1 gangliosidosis.

Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) VI is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder arising from deficient activity of N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase (arylsulfatase B) and subsequent intracellular accumulation of the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) dermatan sulfate and chondroitin-4-sulfate. Manifestations are multi-systemic and include skeletal abnormalities such as dysostosis multiplex and short stature. Reference height-for-age growth charts for treatment-naive MPS VI patients have been published for both the slowly and rapidly progressing populations. Categorization of disease progression for these charts was based on urinary GAG (uGAG) level; high (>200μg/mg creatinine) levels identified subjects as rapidly progressing. Height data for 141 patients who began galsulfase treatment by the age of 18years were collected and stratified by baseline uGAG level and age at ERT initiation in 3-year increments. The reference MPS VI growth charts were used to calculate change in Z-score from pre-treatment baseline to last follow-up. Among patients with high baseline uGAG levels, galsulfase ERT was associated with an increase in Z-score for those beginning treatment at 0-3, >3-6, >6-9, >9-12, and >12-15years of age (p

Alpha-mannosidosis is an ultra-rare autosomal-recessive lysosomal storage disease caused by a reduced activity of the enzyme alpha-mannosidase. Clinical characteristics include facial coarsening, intellectual, motor and hearing impairment as well as skeletal abnormalities. Opacities of the cornea or lens, strabismus, and ocular motility disorders were reported as typical ocular manifestation in patients with alpha-mannosidosis. In contrast, retina and optic nerve degeneration have been rarely described. We report ocular findings of 32 patients with alpha-mannosidosis and especially concentrated on retina and optic nerve abnormalities which we supported by posterior segment examination, fundus photography and Spectral-Domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Retina degeneration with bone spicule formations in the peripheral retina or macular changes were seen in 3 patients (9.4%) on funduscopy. 8 retinal images could be obtained by OCT or fundus photography of these 6 showed thinning of the outer retinal layers on OCT. Optic nerve atrophy was seen in 6 patients (18.8%) of these 4 with partial atrophy. 2 patients had partial optic nerve atrophy with no retinal abnormalities on funduscopy. Cataract was seen in 3 (9.4%), corneal haze in none of the patients. 3 patients (9.4%) had manifest strabismus, 4 (12.5%) with nystagmus, and in 5 patients (15.6%) impaired smooth pursuit eye movements were seen. In conclusion, ocular pathologies in patients with alpha-mannosidosis are not exclusively confined to opacities of the cornea or lens, strabismus or ocular motility disorders but retina degeneration and optic nerve atrophy may be common eye pathologies in these patients. In contrast to conventional funduscopy, OCT technology provides early diagnosis of retina degeneration by showing thinning of the outer retinal layers which can progress with age and potentially leads to vision loss over time.

WOS: 000377110800007, PubMed ID: 26908836, Background Mucopolysaccharidosis VII (MPS VII) is an ultra-rare disease characterised by the deficiency of beta-glucuronidase (GUS). Patients' phenotypes vary from severe forms with hydrops fetalis, skeletal dysplasia and mental retardation to milder forms with fewer manifestations and mild skeletal abnormalities. Accurate assessments on the frequency and clinical characteristics of the disease have been scarce. The aim of this study was to collect such data. Methods We have conducted a survey of physicians to document the medical history of patients with MPS VII. The survey included anonymous information on patient demographics, family history, mode of diagnosis, age of onset, signs and symptoms, severity, management, clinical features and natural progression of the disease. Results We collected information on 56 patients from 11 countries. Patients with MPS VII were classified based on their phenotype into three different groups: (1) neonatal non-immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF) (n=10), (2) Infantile or adolescent form with history of hydrops fetalis (n=13) and (3) Infantile or adolescent form without known hydrops fetalis (n=33). Thirteen patients with MPS VII who had the infantile form with history of hydrops fetalis and survived childhood, had a wide range of clinical manifestations from mild to severe. Five patients underwent bone marrow transplantation and one patient underwent enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human GUS. Conclusions MPS VII is a pan-ethnic inherited lysosomal storage disease with considerable phenotypical heterogeneity. Most patients have short stature, skeletal dysplasia, hepatosplenomegaly, hernias, cardiac involvement, pulmonary insufficiency and cognitive impairment. In these respects it resembles MPS I and MPS II. In MPS VII, however, one unique and distinguishing clinical feature is the unexpectedly high proportion of patients (41%) that had a history of NIHF. Presence of NIHF does not, by itself, predict the eventual severity of the clinical course, if the patient survives infancy., Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical [16232], This work was supported in part by Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical grant number 16232.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term clinical benefits and safety of recombinant human arylsulfatase B (rhASB) treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI: Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), a lysosomal storage disease. Fifty-six patients derived from 3 clinical studies were followed in open-label extension studies for a total period of 97–260 Weeks. All patients received weekly infusions of rhASB at 1mg/kg. Efficacy was evaluated by (1) distance walked in a 12-minute walk test (12MWT) or 6-minute walk test (6MWT), (2) stairs climbed in the 3-minute stair climb (3MSC), and (3) reduction in urinary glycosaminoglycans (GAG). Safety was evaluated by compliance, adverse event (AE) reporting and adherence to treatment. Results: A significant reduction in urinary GAG (71–79%) was sustained. For the 12MWT, subjects in Phase 2 showed improvement of 255±191m (mean±SD) at Week 144; those in Phase 3 Extension demonstrated improvement from study baseline of 183±26m (mean± SE) in the rhASB/rhASB group at Week 96 and from treatment baseline (Week 24) of 117±25m in the placebo/rhASB group. The Phase 1/2 6MWT and the 3MSC from Phase 2 and 3 also showed sustained improvements through the final study measurements. Compliance was 98% overall. Only 560 of 4121 reported AEs (14%) were related to treatment with only 10 of 560 (2%) described as severe. Conclusion: rhASB treatment up to 5 years results in sustained improvements in endurance and has an acceptable safety profile.

To describe cardiac abnormalities in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) VI and to evaluate the impact of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) on cardiac structure and function.Data from electrocardiographic and echocardiographic evaluations were retrospectively collected from patients with MPS VI who are followed up at the Children's Hospital of Mainz.The study included 44 (16 male and 28 female) patients. At baseline, valvular regurgitation (mainly aortic and mitral) and left ventricular (LV) volume overload were present in over half of patients. Other common cardiac manifestations were sinus tachycardia, LV hypertrophy, concentric LV remodelling, and pulmonary hypertension. One patient had left atrial dilation and one had congestive heart failure. Interventricular septal wall thickness and LV posterior wall thickness were above normal in most patients. Twenty five patients had a pre-ERT and at least one follow-up visit after ERT start. Mean follow-up after ERT start was 5.6 (SD 2.3) years. Despite the late onset (mean age 14.6 years) of treatment, ERT appeared to improve or arrest the progression of LV remodelling and LV hypertrophy and suspend the progression of cardiac valve disease.MPS VI is associated with an array of cardiac manifestations. ERT appears to have some impact on cardiac structure and function when started late in life, but may have better long-term results when started during early infancy.

Pulmonary function is impaired in untreated mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI). Pulmonary function was studied in patients during long-term enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant human arylsulfatase B (rhASB; rhN-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfatase). Pulmonary function tests prior to and for up to 240 weeks of weekly infusions of rhASB at 1 mg/kg were completed in 56 patients during Phase 1/2, Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 3 Extension trials of rhASB and the Survey Study. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and, in a subset of patients, maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV), were analyzed as absolute volume in liters. FEV1 and FVC showed little change from baseline during the first 24 weeks of ERT, but after 96 weeks, these parameters increased over baseline by 11% and 17%, respectively. This positive trend compared with baseline continued beyond 96 weeks of treatment. Improvements from baseline in pulmonary function occurred along with gains in height in the younger group (5.5% change) and in the older patient group (2.4% change) at 96 weeks. Changes in MVV occurred earlier within 24 weeks of treatment to approximately 15% over baseline. Model results based on data from all trials showed significant improvements in the rate of change in pulmonary function during 96 weeks on ERT, whereas little or no improvement was observed for the same time period prior to ERT. Thus, analysis of mean percent change data and longitudinal modeling both indicate that long-term ERT resulted in improvement in pulmonary function in MPS VI patients.

To describe the ocular changes noted in seven patients with type VI mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS VI) during 44 months of follow-up while on enzyme replacement therapy (ERT).One male and six female patients with MPS VI were followed-up for a mean period of 44 months while undergoing enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant arylsulfatase B (Naglazyme). They were examined annually for visual acuity, corneal clouding, intraocular pressure (IOP), optic nerve head and fundus morphology. Corneal clouding was documented by photography. We acknowledge that our methodology may not have been sensitive enough to detect extremely mild ocular changes, including minimal increases in corneal thickness or clouding. Nevertheless, this limitation has been considered in the interpretation of our findings.Ophthalmological findings remained stable in 5/7 patients. One patient experienced a modest improvement in visual acuity of more than 2 Snellen lines in one eye, while another patient suffered a deterioration in visual acuity of more than 2 Snellen lines in both eyes. Five out of seven patients showed optic nerve pathology: two of these exhibited optic nerve head swelling, while the other three showed variable degrees of optic nerve atrophy. All seven patients suffered from the typical corneal stromal opacities, however, to variable extents.Visual function and ocular findings did not deteriorate in six out of seven MPS VI patients during a mean follow-up period of 3 and a half years on ERT.

treatment. Onset of neurological symptoms at age 8 and in adolescence. Pair 4: L.M. died at age 5 months due to liver failure. P.M. (7 years): earlyinfantile form, despite treatment start at age 2 progressive neurological deterioration. Pair 5: R.K.: late-infantile form, untreated, died at age 9 due to progressive neurological involvement. M.K.: late infantileform, start of treatment at age 5, died at age 13 due to epileptic encephalopathy. These cases reveal that disease onset and progression in siblings with NPC vary, and that miglustat can slow disease progression.

Objective To describe the progression of ocular changes in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis I receiving enzyme replacement therapy. Methods Three male and five female patients with mucopolysaccharidosis I were followed up for 4 years while undergoing enzyme replacement therapy with α-L-iduronidase (Aldurazyme). Visual acuity, corneal clouding, intraocular pressure, ophthalmoscopy, and optic disc measurements were performed yearly. Results Vision remained stable in 5 patients and deteriorated by at least 2 Snellen lines in 3 patients. Deterioration in 2 of these patients was related to progressive corneal clouding. Visual acuities improved in 1 patient after bilateral penetrating keratoplasties. In the third patient, deterioration was related to increasing papilloedema. All patients had typical corneal stromal opacities, however, to a variable extent. Two patients had already undergone corneal transplantation before recruitment in the study. Their grafts remained clear throughout follow-up. Of 2 patients with an elevated intraocular pressure, 1 developed intraocular pressure–related optic nerve damage. Vision remained stable in a patient with bilateral optic atrophy. Conclusions Ocular findings remain stable in most patients with mucopolysaccharidosis I receiving enzyme replacement therapy. However, enzyme replacement therapy does not seem to prevent progression of corneal or optic disc changes and, thus, the related worsening of visual function.

The objective of this Phase 3 study was to confirm the efficacy and safety of recombinant human arylsulfatase B (rhASB) treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis type VI (MPS VI; Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), a rare, fatal lysosomal storage disease with no effective treatment.Thirty-nine patients with MPS VI were evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, multinational study for 24 weeks. The primary efficacy variable was the distance walked in a 12-minute walk test (12MWT), whereas the secondary efficacy variables were the number of stairs climbed in a 3-minute stair climb (3MSC) and the level of urinary glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion. All patients received drug in an open-label extension period for an additional 24 weeks.After 24 weeks, patients receiving rhASB walked on average 92 meters (m) more in the 12MWT (p=.025) and 5.7 stairs per minute more 3MSC (p=.053) than patients receiving placebo. Continued improvement was observed during the extension study. Urinary GAG declined by -227+/-18 microg/mg more with rhASB than placebo (p.001). Infusions were generally safe and well tolerated. Patients exposed to drug experienced positive clinical benefit despite the presence of antibody to the protein.rhASB significantly improves endurance, reduces GAG, and has an acceptable safety profile.