Arima syndrome caused by CEP290 specific variant and accompanied with pathological cilium; clinical comparison with Joubert syndrome and its related diseases.

OBJECTIVE: Arima syndrome (AS) is a rare disease and its clinical features mimic those of Joubert syndrome or Joubert syndrome-related diseases (JSRD). Recently, we clarified the AS diagnostic criteria and its severe phenotype. However, genetic evidence of AS remains unknown. We explored causative genes of AS and compared the clinical and genetic features of AS with the other JSRD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed genetic analyses of 4 AS patients of 3 families with combination of whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing. Furthermore, we studied cell biology with the cultured fibroblasts of 3 AS patients. RESULTS: All patients had a specific homozygous variant (c.6012-12T>A, p.Arg2004Serfs*7) or compound heterozygous variants (c.1711+1G>A; c.6012-12T>A, p.Gly570Aspfs*19;Arg2004Serfs*7) in centrosomal protein 290 kDa (CEP290) gene. These unique variants lead to abnormal splicing and premature termination. Morphological analysis of cultured fibroblasts from AS patients revealed a marked decrease of the CEP290-positive cell number with significantly longer cilium and naked and protruded ciliary axoneme without ciliary membrane into the cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: AS resulted in cilia dysfunction from centrosome disruption. The unique variant of CEP290 could be strongly linked to AS pathology. Here, we provided AS specific genetic evidence, which steers the structure and functions of centrosome that is responsible for normal ciliogenesis. This is the first report that has demonstrated the molecular basis of Arima syndrome.

[A case of prolonged paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity].

We report the case of a 4-year-old girl who presented with paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH), after developing severe hypoxic-ischemic-encephalopathy because of cardiopulmonary arrest. She showed dramatic paroxysmal sympathetic activity with dystonia. She was treated with wide variety of medications against PSH, which were found to be effective in previous studies. Among them, morphine, bromocriptine, propranolol, and clonidine were effective in reducing the frequency of her attacks while gabapentin, baclofen, dantrolene, and benzodiazepine were ineffective. Though the paroxysms decreased markedly after the treatment, they could not be completely controlled beyond 500 days. Following the treatment, levels of plasma catecholamines and their urinary metabolites decreased to normal during inter- paroxysms. However, once a paroxysm had recurred, these levels were again very high. This case study is considered significant for two rea- sons. One is that PSH among children have been rarely reported, and the other is that this case of prolonged PSH delineated the transition of plasma catecholamines during the treatment. The excitatory: inhibitory ratio (EIR) model proposed by Baguley was considered while dis- cussing drug sensitivity in this case. Accumulation of similar case studies will help establish more effective treatment strategies and elucidate the pathophysiology of PSH.

Nationwide survey of Arima syndrome: revised diagnostic criteria from epidemiological analysis.

AIM: We have never known any epidemiological study of Arima syndrome since it was first described in 1971. To investigate the number of Arima syndrome patients and clarify the clinical differences between Arima syndrome and Joubert syndrome, we performed the first nationwide survey of Arima syndrome, and herein report its results. Furthermore, we revised the diagnostic criteria for Arima syndrome. METHODS: As a primary survey, we sent out self-administered questionnaires to most of the Japanese hospitals with a pediatric clinic, and facilities for persons with severe motor and intellectual disabilities, inquiring as to the number of patients having symptoms of Arima syndrome, including severe psychomotor delay, agenesis or hypoplasia of cerebellar vermis, renal dysfunction, visual dysfunction and with or without ptosis-like appearance. Next, as the second survey, we sent out detailed clinical questionnaires to the institutes having patients with two or more typical symptoms. RESULTS: The response rate of the primary survey was 72.7% of hospitals with pediatric clinic, 63.5% of national hospitals and 66.7% of municipal and private facilities. The number of patients with 5 typical symptoms was 13 and that with 2-4 symptoms was 32. The response rate of the secondary survey was 52% (23 patients). After reviewing clinical features of 23 patients, we identified 7 Arima syndrome patients and 16 Joubert syndrome patients. Progressive renal dysfunction was noticed in all Arima syndrome patients, but in 33% of those with Joubert syndrome. CONCLUSION: It is sometimes difficult to distinguish Arima syndrome from Joubert syndrome. Some clinicians described a patient with Joubert syndrome and its complications of visual dysfunction and renal dysfunction, whose current diagnosis was Arima syndrome. Thus, the diagnosis of the two syndromes may be confused. Here, we revised the diagnostic criteria for Arima syndrome.

Methyl CpG-binding protein isoform MeCP2_e2 is dispensable for Rett syndrome phenotypes but essential for embryo viability and placenta development.

Methyl CpG-binding protein 2 gene (MeCP2) mutations are implicated in Rett syndrome (RTT), one of the common causes of female mental retardation. Two MeCP2 isoforms have been reported: MeCP2_e2 (splicing of all four exons) and MeCP2_e1 (alternative splicing of exons 1, 3, and 4). Their relative expression levels vary among tissues, with MeCP2_e1 being more dominant in adult brain, whereas MeCP2_e2 is expressed more abundantly in placenta, liver, and skeletal muscle. In this study, we performed specific disruption of the MeCP2_e2-defining exon 2 using the Cre-loxP system and examined the consequences of selective loss of MeCP2_e2 function in vivo. We performed behavior evaluation, gene expression analysis, using RT-PCR and real-time quantitative PCR, and histological analysis. We demonstrate that selective deletion of MeCP2_e2 does not result in RTT-associated neurological phenotypes but confers a survival disadvantage to embryos carrying a MeCP2_e2 null allele of maternal origin. In addition, we reveal a specific requirement for MeCP2_e2 function in extraembryonic tissue, where selective loss of MeCP2_e2 results in placenta defects and up-regulation of peg-1, as determined by the parental origin of the mutant allele. Taken together, our findings suggest a novel role for MeCP2 in normal placenta development and illustrate how paternal X chromosome inactivation in extraembryonic tissues confers a survival disadvantage for carriers of a mutant maternal MeCP2_e2 allele. Moreover, our findings provide an explanation for the absence of reports on MeCP2_e2-specific exon 2 mutations in RTT. MeCP2_e2 mutations in humans may result in a phenotype that evades a diagnosis of RTT.

Abnormal glucose metabolism in aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency.

We report sibling cases of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency, which is a very rare congenital metabolic disorder. These patients were born to healthy and non-consanguineous parents, and presented oculogyric crises, paroxysmal dystonic attacks, and severe psychomotor retardation since early infancy. In cerebrospinal fluid the levels of homovanilic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were very low and the level of L-dopa was very high. The diagnosis was confirmed by the lack of AADC activity in plasma, and a point mutation in the AADC gene. MRI revealed a slightly small volume of the prefrontal areas and normal myelination in both patients. Positron emission tomography using 2-deoxy-2[(18)F] fluoro-D-glucose was performed in one patient, which revealed hypometabolism in the prefrontal cortex and bilateral basal ganglia with a little laterality. These findings suggested that the severe dystonic features were caused by abnormal function of bilateral basal ganglia and severe psychomotor retardation could be due to abnormalities in prefrontal cortical activity.

Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency associated with epilepsy mimicking non-epileptic involuntary movements.

Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is a rare inborn error of neurotransmitter biosynthesis that leads to a combined deficiency of catecholamines and serotonin and is characterized by global developmental delay, involuntary movements, and autonomic dysfunction. We report the case of an 11-year-old male patient with AADC deficiency who also had epileptic spasms and generalized tonic seizures with asymmetrical features, in addition to frequent involuntary non-epileptic movements. The clinical manifestation of the epileptic attacks apparently resembled that of non-epileptic attacks. It was difficult to differentiate between both attacks without the help of an ictal electroencephalographic study. The epileptic attacks were finally controlled by appropriate antiepileptic drugs. Because an association with epileptic seizures is uncommon in AADC deficiency, some cases may have been regarded as involuntary non-epileptic movements. This indicates that the differentiation of epileptic attacks from non-epileptic ones is indispensable for the adequate treatment of patients with AADC deficiency.

Brainstem monoamine pathology of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage: a model of acute stage of neonatal asphyxia.

Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is one of the most severe perinatal diseases and leads to high mortality and sometimes severe neurological sequelae. At the acute stage of HIE, it is thought to be the damage of catecholaminergic system in the brainstem. And then, HIE reflects mental development throughout the norepinephrine and serotonin systems, which mainly originates in the brainstem. Therefore, we studied both systems in the brainstem of neonatal HIE model rats with tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TpH) immunohistochemistry and a high-performance liquid column (HPLC) to measure norepinephrine and serotonin and their metabolism. As a result, the TH-positive and TpH-positive cell numbers significantly decreased 2 days after hypoxic-ischemic (HI) insult (n=10). However, 7 days after insult (n=10), the TH-positive and TpH-positive cell numbers had recovered in most regions. HPLC demonstrated a significant difference in the norepinephrine concentration 2 days after HI insult, but not in the other monoamines.

Methyl CpG-binding protein 2 (a mutation of which causes Rett syndrome) directly regulates insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 in mouse and human brains.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a major neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by mental retardation and autistic behavior. Mutation of the MeCP2 gene, encoding methyl CpG-binding protein 2, causes the disease. The pathomechanism by which MeCP2 dysfunction leads to the RTT phenotype has not been elucidated. We found that MeCP2 directly regulates expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) gene in human and mouse brains. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that the IGFBP3 promoter contained an MeCP2 binding site. IGFBP3 overexpression was observed in the brains of mecp2-null mice and human RTT patients using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses. Moreover, mecp2-null mice showed a widely distributed and increased number of IGFBP3-positive cells in the cerebral cortex, whereas wild-type mice at the same age showed fewer IGFBP3-positive cells. These results suggest that IGFBP3 is a downstream gene regulated by MeCP2 and that the previously reported BDNF and DLX5 genes and MeCP2 may contribute directly to the transcriptional expression of IGFBP3 in the brain. Interestingly, the pathologic features of mecp2-null mice have some similarities to those of IGFBP3-transgenic mice, which show a reduction of early postnatal growth. IGFBP3 overexpression due to lack of MeCP2 may lead to delayed brain maturation.

Defect in normal developmental increase of the brain biogenic amine concentrations in the mecp2-null mouse.

To clarify whether Mecp2 dysfunction may cause impairment of the monoaminergic and serotonergic systems, we measured the whole brain concentrations of biogenic amines and related substrates in three mecp2-null male mice and four control mice of each age at 0-42 postnatal days by HPLC methods. After 14 postnatal days, concentrations of biogenic amines were smaller in mecp2-null mice than those in control mice and at 42 postnatal days, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin concentrations in mecp2-null mice were significantly smaller by 25, 24 and 16%, respectively. This result suggested that the absence of Mecp2 does not impair the neurogenesis of monoaminergic and serotonergic neurons but causes succeeding impairment of those neuronal systems from 14 postnatal days.