0000000000246592
AUTHOR
Karin Baron
Thirty-four novel mutations of the GLA gene in 121 patients with Fabry disease
Fabry disease (FD) is an X-chromosomal disorder caused by mutations in the GLA gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. We performed mutation screening on a cohort of 121 patients including 84 male and 37 female index cases and identified a total of 90 different mutations, 34 of which are reported for the first time here. Both point mutations (74.4%) and 'short length' rearrangements (25.6%) were found, including missense (54.4%), nonsense (14.4%), and splice site point mutations (5.6%), deletions (17.8%) or insertions/duplications (5.6%) of a few nucleotides, and complex rearrangements including larger deletions (2.2%). GLA mutations were identified in 82 (97.6%) of the 84…
A 4-year study of the efficacy and tolerability of enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase alfa in 36 women with Fabry disease
Although Fabry disease is X linked and considered to affect primarily male hemizygotes, female heterozygotes may experience all the signs and symptoms of this metabolic disorder. This prospective, single-center, open-label, clinical trial was performed to evaluate the long-term response of female patients with Fabry disease to enzyme replacement therapy.Symptomatic women (average age = 47 years) enrolled in this 4-year study were treated with agalsidase alfa (Replagal, Shire HGT, Inc.) at a dose of 0.2 mg/kg, every other week for 4 years (N = 36). Clinical and biochemical assessments were conducted at 12-month intervals.The Mainz Severity Score Index, a measure of total disease burden, was …