Phase I/II Trial of Adeno-Associated Virus–Mediated Alpha-Glucosidase Gene Therapy to the Diaphragm for Chronic Respiratory Failure in Pompe Disease: Initial Safety and Ventilatory Outcomes

Pompe disease is an inherited neuromuscular disease caused by deficiency of lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) leading to glycogen accumulation in muscle and motoneurons. Cardiopulmonary failure in infancy leads to early mortality, and GAA enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) results in improved survival, reduction of cardiac hypertrophy, and developmental gains. However, many children have progressive ventilatory insufficiency and need additional support. Preclinical work shows that gene transfer restores phrenic neural activity and corrects ventilatory deficits. Here we present 180-day safety and ventilatory outcomes for five ventilator-dependent children in a phase I/II clinical trial of AAV-mediated GAA gene therapy (rAAV1-hGAA) following intradiaphragmatic delivery. We assessed whether rAAV1-hGAA results in acceptable safety outcomes and detectable functional changes, using general safety measures, immunological studies, and pulmonary functional testing. All subjects required chronic, full-time mechanical ventilation because of respiratory failure that was unresponsive to both ERT and preoperative muscle-conditioning exercises. After receiving a dose of either 1×10(12) vg (n=3) or 5×10(12) vg (n=2) of rAAV1-hGAA, the subjects' unassisted tidal volume was significantly larger (median [interquartile range] 28.8% increase [15.2–35.2], p<0.05). Further, most patients tolerated appreciably longer periods of unassisted breathing (425% increase [103–851], p=0.08). Gene transfer did not improve maximal inspiratory pressure. Expected levels of circulating antibodies and no T-cell-mediated immune responses to the vector (capsids) were observed. One subject demonstrated a slight increase in anti-GAA antibody that was not considered clinically significant. These results indicate that rAAV1-hGAA was safe and may lead to modest improvements in volitional ventilatory performance measures. Evaluation of the next five patients will determine whether earlier intervention can further enhance the functional benefit

"Elections, parties and institutional design: A comparative perspective on European Union democracy"

The standard version of the European Union 'democratic deficit' maintains that genuine pan-European elections and parties will only come about if the EU is transformed into a classic parliamentary system: if the European Parliament (EP) is given more power in the legislative and executive-selection processes. Two influential critiques of this view are that majoritarian democracy is inappropriate in such a deeply divided society, and that European level parties would form 'cartels' rather than compete for political office. To assess these claims and critiques, a typology of multi-level systems is developed and a series of hypotheses about the role of elections and parties within these system are proposed. These are subsequently tested in a comparative analysis of eight cases. The key finding is that European elections and parties are unlikely to emerge if the EP is given more power. Nevertheless, real "European' elections and competitive parties may develop if the EU becomes a (partial) presidential/interlocking system: if the institutional balance is kept, but the Commission President is directly elected