Purification and characterization of recombinant human liver glycolate oxidase

International audienc

Growth Hormone With Aromatase Inhibitor May Improve Height in CYP11B1 Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

With an estimated prevalence of 1 in 100 000 births, 11β-hydroxylase abstract deficiency is the second most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and is caused by mutations in CYP11B1. Clinical features include virilization, early gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty, hypertension, and reduced stature. The current mainstay of management is with glucocorticoids to replace deficient steroids and to minimize adrenal sex hormone overproduction, thus preventing virilization and optimizing growth. We report a patient with CAH who had been suboptimally treated and presented to us at 6 years of age with precocious puberty, hypertension, tall stature, advanced bone age, and a predicted final height of 150 cm. Hormonal profiles and genetic analysis confirmed a diagnosis of 11β-hydroxylase deficiency. In addition to glucocorticoid replacement, the patient was commenced on growth hormone and a third-generation aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, in an attempt to optimize his growth. After the initiation of this treatment, the patient’s growth rate improved significantly and bone age advancement slowed. The patient reached a final height of 177.5 cm (0.81 SD score), 11.5 cm above his mid-parental height. This patient is only the second reported case of the use of an aromatase inhibitor in combination with growth hormone to optimize height in 11β-hydroxylase-deficient CAH. This novel treatment proved to be highly efficacious, with no adverse effects. It may therefore provide a promising option to promote growth in exceptional circumstances in individuals with 11β-hydroxylase deficiency presenting late with advanced skeletal maturation and consequent short stature

Growth Hormone With Aromatase Inhibitor May Improve Height in CYP11B1 Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

With an estimated prevalence of 1 in 100 000 births, 11β-hydroxylase abstract deficiency is the second most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and is caused by mutations in CYP11B1. Clinical features include virilization, early gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty, hypertension, and reduced stature. The current mainstay of management is with glucocorticoids to replace deficient steroids and to minimize adrenal sex hormone overproduction, thus preventing virilization and optimizing growth. We report a patient with CAH who had been suboptimally treated and presented to us at 6 years of age with precocious puberty, hypertension, tall stature, advanced bone age, and a predicted final height of 150 cm. Hormonal profiles and genetic analysis confirmed a diagnosis of 11β-hydroxylase deficiency. In addition to glucocorticoid replacement, the patient was commenced on growth hormone and a third-generation aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, in an attempt to optimize his growth. After the initiation of this treatment, the patient’s growth rate improved significantly and bone age advancement slowed. The patient reached a final height of 177.5 cm (0.81 SD score), 11.5 cm above his mid-parental height. This patient is only the second reported case of the use of an aromatase inhibitor in combination with growth hormone to optimize height in 11β-hydroxylase-deficient CAH. This novel treatment proved to be highly efficacious, with no adverse effects. It may therefore provide a promising option to promote growth in exceptional circumstances in individuals with 11β-hydroxylase deficiency presenting late with advanced skeletal maturation and consequent short stature

Genetic assessment in primary hyperoxaluria: why it matters

Accurate diagnosis of primary hyperoxaluria (PH) has important therapeutic consequences. Since biochemical assessment can be unreliable, genetic testing is a crucial diagnostic tool for patients with PH to define the disease type. Patients with PH type 1 (PH1) have a worse prognosis than those with other PH types, despite the same extent of oxalate excretion. The relation between genotype and clinical phenotype in PH1 is extremely heterogeneous with respect to age of first symptoms and development of kidney failure. Some mutations are significantly linked to pyridoxine-sensitivity in PH1, such as homozygosity for p.G170R and p.F152I combined with a common polymorphism. Although patients with these mutations display on average better outcomes, they may also present with CKD stage 5 in infancy. In vitro studies suggest pyridoxine-sensitivity for some other mutations, but confirmatory clinical data are lacking (p.G47R, p.G161R, p.I56N/major allele) or scarce (p.I244T). These studies also suggest that other vitamin B6 derivatives than pyridoxine may be more effective and should be a focus for clinical testing. PH patients displaying the same mutation, even within one family, may have completely different clinical outcomes. This discordance may be caused by environmental or genetic factors that are unrelated to the effect of the causative mutation(s). No relation between genotype and clinical or biochemical phenotypes have been found so far in PH types 2 and 3. This manuscript reviews the current knowledge on the genetic background of the three types of primary hyperoxaluria and its impact on clinical management, including prenatal diagnosis

Data from a large European study indicate that the outcome of primary hyperoxaluria type 1 correlates with the AGXT mutation type

Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 displays a heterogeneous phenotype, likely to be affected by genetic and non-genetic factors, including timeliness of diagnosis and quality of care. As previous genotype-phenotype studies were hampered by limited patient numbers the European OxalEurope Consortium was constituted. This preliminary retrospective report is based on 526 patients of which 410 have the AGXT genotype defined. We grouped mutations by the predicted effect as null, missense leading to mistargeting (G170R), and other missense, and analyzed their phenotypic correlations. Median age of end-stage renal disease increased from 9.9 for 88 homozygous null patients, 11.5 for 42 heterozygous null/missense, 16.9 for 116 homozygous missense patients, 25.1 for 61 G170R/null patients, 31.2 for 32 G170R/missense patients, and 33.9 years for 71 homozygous G170R patients. The outcome of some recurrent missense mutations (p.I244T, p.F152I, p.M195R, p.D201E, p.S81L, p.R36C) and an unprecedented number of G170R homozygotes is described in detail. Diagnosis is still delayed and actions aimed at increasing awareness of primary hyperoxaluria type 1 are recommended. Thus, in addition to G170R, other causative mutations are associated with later onset of end-stage renal disease. The OxalEurope registry will provide necessary tools for characterizing those genetic and non-genetic factors through a combination of genetic, functional, and biostatistical approaches