[Molecular medicine: pathobiochemistry as the key to personalized treatment of inherited diseases]. / Molekulare Medizin: Pathobiochemie als Schlüssel zur personalisierten Therapie vererbter Krankheiten.

Genetic defects are often still regarded as a life-long fate, which one has to cope with. It is true that in many cases an inherited disposition may lead to a severe disease; however, it is also true that the number of genetic defects with a treatment option is continuously increasing and in some of them the onset of disease symptoms can even be totally prevented. Knowledge of the precise molecular pathomechanism is often the basis for a treatment concept. Genome-wide sequencing has tremendously increased the possibility to identify a genetic defect and its broad application has meanwhile made a decisive contribution in routine diagnostics. After identifying a genetic alteration, it is still necessary to investigate the pathobiochemical consequences on the cellular and systemic level. This can be a time-consuming process since not all functional consequences can be immediately recognized. In the case of metabolic defects the treatment strategy can either be a supplementation of missing products or a removal of toxic substrates. The residual function of affected pathways can also often be improved. Recently, the direct correction of the affected genetic defects has become a treatment option for a selected number of diseases. As the first symptoms of disease usually occur early in life, pediatrics has a pioneering role in developing treatment strategies.

Representativeness of an air quality monitoring station for PM2.5 and source apportionment over a small urban domain.

In this study, PM2.5 concentrations together with the water-soluble ionic compounds and total elements were simultaneously measured at 16 sites in the city of Varese located in Northern Italy within a domain of 2 × 2 km2. The center point of this domain consisted of an existing urban air quality monitoring station. The representativeness of the monitoring station for PM2.5 mass and chemical composition was estimated using a methodology relying on statistical/geostatistical analyses. Source apportionment by means of the Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) receptor model was also performed to evaluate the spatial distribution of source contribution throughout the domain. Very high soluble fraction was found for Cd, Sb, K and V, indicating the anthropogenic origin of those elements. The geostatistical analysis/mapping showed that the monitoring station captured the spatial variation of PM2.5 and most of the anthropogenic originated elements, e.g., As, Cd and V, whereas it did not captured the spatial patterns of the ones originated from both natural and anthropogenic sources, e.g., Na, Ni, Pb, K, Zn, Fe, Cr, and Ti. The CMB source contribution estimations in the monitoring station were at least 25% different from many sites of the domain for PM2.5. The significant spatial variation in concentrations and source contribution estimates showed that the monitoring station could not be considered representative for the air quality monitoring studies with exposure assessment and source apportionment purposes in Varese.

A 6-month randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of weekly exenatide in adolescents with obesity.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacological treatment options for adolescents with obesity are very limited. Glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist could be a treatment option for adolescent obesity. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of exenatide extended release on body mass index (BMI)-SDS as primary outcome, and glucose metabolism, cardiometabolic risk factors, liver steatosis, and other BMI metrics as secondary outcomes, and its safety and tolerability in adolescents with obesity. METHODS: Six-month, randomized, double-blinded, parallel, placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients (n = 44, 10-18 years, females n = 22) with BMI-SDS > 2.0 or age-adapted-BMI > 30 kg/m2 according to WHO were included. Patients received lifestyle intervention and were randomized to exenatide extended release 2 mg (n = 22) or placebo (n = 22) subcutaneous injections given once weekly. Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were conducted at the beginning and end of the intervention. RESULTS: Exenatide reduced (P < .05) BMI-SDS (-0.09; -0.18, 0.00), % BMI 95th percentile (-2.9%; -5.4, -0.3), weight (-3 kg; -5.8, -0.1), waist circumference (-3.2 cm; -5.8, -0.7), subcutaneous adipose tissue (-552 cm3 ; -989, -114), 2-hour-glucose during OGTT (-15.3 mg/dL; -27.5, -3.1), total cholesterol (11.6 mg/dL; -21.7, -1.5), and BMI (-0.83 kg/m2 ; -1.68, 0.01) without significant change in liver fat content (-1.36; -3.12, 0.4; P = .06) in comparison to placebo. Safety and tolerability profiles were comparable to placebo with the exception of mild adverse events being more frequent in exenatide-treated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of adolescents with severe obesity with extended-release exenatide is generally well tolerated and leads to a modest reduction in BMI metrics and improvement in glucose tolerance and cholesterol. The study indicates that the treatment provides additional beneficial effects beyond BMI reduction for the patient group.

Pompe disease in Austria: clinical, genetic and epidemiological aspects.

In this study, we performed a survey of infantile and late-onset Pompe disease (IOPD and LOPD) in Austria. Paediatric and neuromuscular centres were contacted to provide a set of anonymized clinical and genetic data of patients with IOPD and LOPD. The number of patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) was obtained from the pharmaceutical company providing alglucosidase alfa. We found 25 patients in 24 families, 4 IOPD and 21 LOPD with a resulting prevalence of 1:350,914. The most frequent clinical manifestation in LOPD was a lower limb-girdle phenotype combined with axial weakness. Three patients were clinically pauci- or asymptomatic and were diagnosed because of persistent hyperCKemia. Diagnostic delay in LOPD was 7.4 ± 9.7 years. The most common mutation was c.-32-13T > G. All IOPD and 17 symptomatic LOPD patients are receiving ERT. Standardized follow-up was only available in six LOPD patients for the 6-min walk test (6minWT) and in ten for the forced vital capacity (FVC). Mean FVC did not decline (before ERT; 63.6 ± 39.7%; last evaluation during ERT: 61.9 ± 26.9%; P = 0.5) while there was a trend to decline in the mean distance covered by the 6minWT (before ERT: 373.5 ± 117.9 m; last evaluation during ERT: 308.5 ± 120.8 m; P = 0.077). The study shows a lower prevalence of Pompe disease in Austria than in other European countries and corroborates a limb-girdle phenotype with axial weakness as the most common clinical presentation, although asymptomatic hyperCKemia may be the first indication of LOPD.

Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) I/III deficiency with concurrent hyperhomocysteinaemia: two novel cases.

This study reports three novel mutations of the methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) lA gene and confirms that hyperhomocysteinaemia may be a characteristic finding in MAT I/III deficiency. Thus, MAT I/III deficiency is important in the differential diagnoses of hyperhomocysteinaemia, which may lead to clinical complications of MAT I/III deficiency.

Cloning of the human MCCA and MCCB genes and mutations therein reveal the molecular cause of 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA: carboxylase deficiency.

3-Methylcrotonyl-CoA: carboxylase (EC 6.4.1.4; MCC) deficiency is an inborn error of the leucine degradation pathway (MIM *210200) characterized by increased urinary excretion of 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid and 3-methylcrotonylglycine. The clinical phenotypes are highly variable ranging from asymptomatic to profound metabolic acidosis and death in infancy. Sequence similarity with Glycine max and Arabidopsis thaliana genes encoding the two subunits of MCC permitted us to clone the cDNAs encoding the alpha- and beta-subunits of human MCC. The 2580 bp MCCA cDNA encodes the 725 amino acid biotin-containing alpha-subunit. The MCCA gene is located on chromosome 3q26-q28 and consists of 19 exons. The 2304 bp MCCB cDNA encodes the non-biotin-containing beta-subunit of 563 amino acids. The MCCB gene is located on chromosome 5q13 and consists of 17 exons. We have sequenced both genes in four patients with isolated biotin-unresponsive deficiency of MCC. In two of them we found mutations in the MCCA gene. Compound heterozygosity for a missense mutation (S535F) and a nonsense mutation (V694X) were identified in one patient. One heterozygous mutation (S535F) was found in another patient. The remaining two patients had mutations in the MCCB gene. One consanguineous patient was homozygous for a missense mutation (R268T). In the other we identified a missense mutation in one allele (E99Q) and allelic loss of the other. Mutations were correlated with an almost total lack of enzyme activity in fibroblasts. These data provide evidence that human MCC deficiency is caused by mutations in either the MCCA or MCCB gene.

A computerized vector manometry and MRI study in children following posterior sagittal anorectoplasty.

The study was designed to evaluate computerized eight-channel vector manometry (8CVM) and pelvic floor magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as methods to assess the anal sphincter following posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) for anorectal malformations, in particular the functional capacity of the sphincter structures in correlation with postoperative MRI findings. Seventeen children had been operated upon for a rectovesical, -urethral, or -vaginal fistula including one female cloacal malformation; 4 had a secondary PSARP. Mean follow-up was 5.57 years. Continence was evaluated with a modified Kelly score. A CVM technique with an eight-channel perfusion catheter was used. In addition to software-supported data, the manometric parameters included a score-system assessing three different pressure zones of the anal canal qualitatively on the three-dimensional image of the anal sphincter profile. The same procedure was performed on sagittal, oblique axial, and oblique coronal MRI. Furthermore, the thickness of the sphincter muscle was assessed at the level of the maximal mean segmental pressure. All children had decreased absolute vector-volumetry values at rest and on squeezing. Correlation with the clinical score was poor. Correlation of the manometric score with the clinical course was similar to the correlation of MRI score with clinical course (R = 0.425; P = 0.1). Thirteen children demonstrated normal or increased sphincter length; 5 of these had a decreased high-pressure zone (HPZ). The position of the anorectum in the sphincter muscles could be evaluated by the vector-volumetry image as anatomic in 11 cases, nearly correctly positioned in 4, and ectopic in 1 child. MRI detected 2 cases of malposition, 10 anatomic, and 4 nearly-anatomic findings. Correlation of the manometric score with the MRI score and the thickness of the sphincter muscle at the HPZ was significantly high (R = 0.801; P < 0.0001). 8CVM is thus highly sufficient in illustrating the function of the sphincter musculature seen on pelvic floor MRI. Both methods only moderately reflect clinical follow-up, since continence depends on more than sphincter ability.

[Toxicological investigations of the combination sulfamoxole/trimethoprim, a new broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic (author's transl)]. / Toxikologische Untersuchungen der Kombination Sulfamoxol/Trimethoprim (CN 3123), eines neuen Breitbandchemotherapeutikums

The chemotherapeutically effective 5:1 combination N1-(4,5-dimethyl-2-oxazolyl)-sulfanilamide (sulfamoxole) and 2,4-diamino-5-(3,4,5-trimethoxy-benzyl)-pyrimidine (trimethoprim) (CN 3123, Nevin, Supristol) was investigated to determine any evidence of toxicological potentiation or new toxic signs. It was found that CN 3123 had a very low acute toxicity when administered orally to mice, rats and dogs (oral LD50: mouse greater than 12 000 mg/kg; rat greater than 14 000 mg/kg; dog greater than 1000 mg/kg body weight). The combination was also tolerated by rats and dogs in repeated doses administered over a period of 4 or 26 weeks, that greatly exceeded the therapeutic dose. The only change observed occurred in the thyroid, which in all doses administered exhibited a dose-related increase in weight accompanied by histological changes indicating an activation of thyroid function and a hypersecretion of basophilic thyrotropic cells in the anterior lobe of the pituitary. Six weeks after discontinuation of treatment this condition showed a tendency to reversibility or had already returned to normal. In dogs there was a dose-related increase in iodine uptake by the thyroid and a decrease in serum thyroxine over a period of 6 months under the highest dosage of CN 3123 administered. Whereas the thyroid changes observed under the combination could be reproduced with sulfamoxole, no effect on thyroid weight was observed in rats and dogs in the subacute toxicity phase of a comparative investigation with trimethoprim. Moreover, trimethoprim did not increase the effect of sulfamoxole on the thyroid gland. The effect of sulfamoxole on the thyroid is discussed in detail with a review of the literature. It can be characterized as species-specific for sulfonamides in mice, rats, rabbits and dogs but not in monkeys or in man and appears to be caused by the inhibition of the organic binding of iodine in the thyroid, whereby the predisposing factors must vary considerably from species to species. The thyroid hypertrophy observed is due to the activation of the regulatory cycle via the anterior lobe of the pituitary. The following systemic changes occurred after 600 mg CN 3123/kg, a lethal-toxic dosage and the highest administered in the study: reduced body weight, decreased food consumption leading to cachexia, slightly increased SGPT and alkaline phosphatase, slight thrombocyte depression, enlargement and increased fatty degeneration of the liver, occurrence of necrotic areas in the liver, hemosiderin accumulation in Kupffer's cells, and an increase of reticular cells in the spleen. The acute toxicity of CN 3123 and all major functional and histological changes under repeated administration were due exclusively to sulfamoxole. The combination sulfamoxole/trimethoprim gives no indication of toxicological potentiation or new toxic signs.