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Current available treatment is limited to treating the symptoms, not the cause. Seizure frequency can be regulated by the use of drugs such as Clonazepam (or other benzodiazepines) and Sodium Valproate. Clonazepam functions by increasing GABA activity at the GABA receptor. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and therefore, its increased activity hyperpolarizes cells. Clonazepam has been effective in minimising seizure activity, especially during puberty. Sodium valproate prevents the depolarization of the cell by blocking sodium ion channels and inhibitory GABA enzymes. Both of these anticonvulsants lead to depression of the central nervous system.
Life expectancy is only moderately affected by NE because the rate of disease progression is slow. Patients usually survive past 40-50 years of age.
NARP syndrome is not curable. Symptomatic relief is targeted. Antioxidants play a role in improving the oxidative phosphorylation that is otherwise impaired.
Unfortunately there is no cure for Lafora Disease with treatment being limited to controlling seizures through anti-epileptic and anti-convulsant medications. The treatment is usually based on the individual's specific symptoms and the severity of those symptoms. Some examples of medications include valproate, levetiracetam, topiramate, benzodiazepines, or perampanel. Although the symptoms and seizures can be controlled for a long period by using anti-epileptic drugs, the symptoms will progress and patients lose their ability to perform daily activities leading to the survival rate of approximately 10 years after symptoms begin. Quality of life worsens as the years go on, with some patients requiring a feeding tube so that they can get the nutrition and medication they need in order to keep functioning, but not necessarily living.
Treatment of THB deficiencies consists of THB supplementation (2–20 mg/kg per day) or diet to control blood phenylalanine concentration and replacement therapy with neurotransmitters precursors (L-DOPA and 5-HTP) and supplements of folinic acid in DHPR deficiency.
Tetrahydrobiopterin is available as a tablet for oral administration in the form of "tetrahydrobiopterin dihydrochloride" (BH4*2HCL). BH4*2HCL is FDA approved under the trade name Kuvan. The typical cost of treating a patient with Kuvan is $100,000 per year. BioMarin holds the patent for Kuvan until at least 2024, but Par Pharmaceutical has a right to produce a generic version by 2020. BH4*2HCL is indicated at least in tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency caused by GTPCH deficiency or PTPS deficiency.
The main treatments for CTLN1 include a low-protein, high-calorie diet with amino acid supplements, particularly arginine. The Ucyclyd protocol, using buphenyl and ammonul, is used for treatment as well. Hyperammonemia is treated with hemodialysis; intravenous arginine, sodium benzoate, and sodium phenylacetate. In some cases, liver transplantation may be a viable treatment. L-carnitine is used in some treatment protocols.
Although there is currently no cure, treatment includes injections of structurally similar compound, N-Carbamoyl-L-glutamate, an analogue of N-Acetyl Glutamate. This analogue likewise activates CPS1. This treatment mitigates the intensity of the disorder.
If symptoms are detected early enough and the patient is injected with this compound, levels of severe mental retardation can be slightly lessened, but brain damage is irreversible.
Early symptoms include lethargy, vomiting, and deep coma.
In GRA, the hypersecretion of aldosterone and the accompanying hypertension are remedied when ACTH secretion is suppressed by administering glucocorticoids.
Dexamethasone, spironolactone and eplerenone have been used in treatment.
On April 27, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Brineura (cerliponase alfa) as the first specific treatment for NCL. Brineura is enzyme replacement therapy manufactured through recombinant DNA technology. The active ingredient in Brineura, cerliponase alpha, is intended to slow loss of walking ability in symptomatic pediatric patients 3 years of age and older with late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), also known as tripeptidyl peptidase-1 (TPP1) deficiency. Brineura is administered into the cerebrospinal fluid by infusion via a surgically implanted reservoir and catheter in the head (intraventricular access device).
A painkiller available in several European countries, Flupirtine, has been suggested to possibly slow down the progress of NCL, particularly in the juvenile and late infantile forms. No trial has been officially supported in this venue, however. Currently the drug is available to NCL families either from Germany, Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario.
The severity and prognosis vary with the type of mutation involved.
The primary treatment method for fatty-acid metabolism disorders is dietary modification. It is essential that the blood-glucose levels remain at adequate levels to prevent the body from moving fat to the liver for energy. This involves snacking on low-fat, high-carbohydrate nutrients every 2–6 hours. However, some adults and children can sleep for 8–10 hours through the night without snacking.
Treatment is possible but unless continued daily, problems may arise. Currently, this is done through supplementation of 5–10 mg of oral biotin a day. If symptoms have begun to show, standard treatments can take care of them, such as hearing aids for poor hearing.
Low-protein food is recommended for this disorder, which requires food products low in particular types of amino acids (e.g., methionine).
The treatment of primary immunodeficiencies depends foremost on the nature of the abnormality. Somatic treatment of primarily genetic defects is in its infancy. Most treatment is therefore passive and palliative, and falls into two modalities: managing infections and boosting the immune system.
Reduction of exposure to pathogens may be recommended, and in many situations prophylactic antibiotics or antivirals may be advised.
In the case of humoral immune deficiency, immunoglobulin replacement therapy in the form of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) or subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) may be available.
In cases of autoimmune disorders, immunosuppression therapies like corticosteroids may be prescribed.
Individuals presenting with Type III galactosemia must consume a lactose- and galactose-restricted diet devoid of dairy products and mucilaginous plants. Dietary restriction is the only current treatment available for GALE deficiency. As glycoprotein and glycolipid metabolism generate endogenous galactose, however, Type III galactosemia may not be resolved solely through dietary restriction.
Carnitor - an L-carnitine supplement that has shown to improve the body's metabolism in individuals with low L-carnitine levels. It is only useful for Specific fatty-acid metabolism disease.
Succinic acid has been studied, and shown effective for both Leighs disease, and MELAS syndrome. If the mutation is in succinate dehydrogenase then there is a build up of succinate, in which case succinic acid won't work so the treatment is with fumaric acid to replace the fumarate than can not be made from succinate. A high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may be followed if a gene on the X chromosome is implicated in an individual's Leigh syndrome. Thiamine (vitamin B) may be given if a deficiency of pyruvate dehydrogenase is known or suspected. The symptoms of lactic acidosis are treated by supplementing the diet with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or sodium citrate, but these substances do not treat the cause of Leigh syndrome. Dichloroacetate may also be effective in treating Leigh syndrome-associated lactic acidosis; research is ongoing on this substance. Coenzyme Q10 supplements have been seen to improve symptoms in some cases.
Clinical trials of the drug EPI-743 for Leigh disease are ongoing.
In 2016, John Zhang and his team at New Hope Fertility Center in New York, USA, performed a spindle transfer mitochondrial donation technique on a mother in Mexico who was at risk of producing a baby with Leigh disease. A healthy boy was born on 6 April 2016. However, it is not yet certain if the technique is completely reliable and safe.
Bone marrow transplant may be possible for Severe Combined Immune Deficiency and other severe immunodeficiences.
Virus-specific T-Lymphocytes (VST) therapy is used for patients who have received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation that has proven to be unsuccessful. It is a treatment that has been effective in preventing and treating viral infections after HSCT. VST therapy uses active donor T-cells that are isolated from alloreactive T-cells which have proven immunity against one or more viruses. Such donor T-cells often cause acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a subject of ongoing investigation. VSTs have been produced primarily by ex-vivo cultures and by the expansion of T-lymphocytes after stimulation with viral antigens. This is carried out by using donor-derived antigen-presenting cells. These new methods have reduced culture time to 10–12 days by using specific cytokines from adult donors or virus-naive cord blood. This treatment is far quicker and with a substantially higher success rate than the 3–6 months it takes to carry out HSCT on a patient diagnosed with a primary immunodeficiency. T-lymphocyte therapies are still in the experimental stage; few are even in clinical trials, none have been FDA approved, and availability in clinical practice may be years or even a decade or more away.
Administration of cytidine monophosphate and uridine monophosphate reduces urinary orotic acid and ameliorates the anemia.
Administration of uridine, which is converted to UMP, will bypass the metabolic block and provide the body with a source of pyrimidine.
Uridine triacetate is a drug approved by FDA to be used in the treatment of hereditary orotic aciduria.
No specific cure has been discovered for homocystinuria; however, many people are treated using high doses of vitamin B (also known as pyridoxine). Slightly less than 50% respond to this treatment and need to take supplemental vitamin B for the rest of their lives. Those who do not respond require a Low-sulfur diet (especially monitoring methionine), and most will need treatment with trimethylglycine. A normal dose of folic acid supplement and occasionally adding cysteine to the diet can be helpful, as glutathione is synthesized from cysteine (so adding cysteine can be important to reduce oxidative stress).
Betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine) is used to reduce concentrations of homocysteine by promoting the conversion of homocysteine back to methionine, i.e., increasing flux through the re-methylation pathway independent of folate derivatives (which is mainly active in the liver and in the kidneys).The re-formed methionine is then gradually removed by incorporation into body protein. The methionine that is not converted into protein is converted to S-adenosyl-methionine which goes on to form homocysteine again. Betaine is, therefore, only effective if the quantity of methionine to be removed is small. Hence treatment includes both betaine and a diet low in methionine. In classical homocystinuria (CBS, or cystathione beta synthase deficiency), the plasma methionine level usually increases above the normal range of 30 micromoles/L and the concentrations should be monitored as potentially toxic levels (more than 400 micromoles/L) may be reached.
There is no cure for GALT deficiency, in the most severely affected patients, treatment involves a galactose free diet for life. Early identification and implementation of a modified diet greatly improves the outcome for patients. The extent of residual GALT enzyme activity determines the degree of dietary restriction. Patients with higher levels of residual enzyme activity can typically tolerate higher levels of galactose in their diets. As patients get older, dietary restriction is often relaxed. With the increased identification of patients and their improving outcomes, the management of patients with galactosemia in adulthood is still being understood.
After diagnosis, patients are often supplemented with calcium and vitamin D3. Long-term manifestations of the disease including ovarian failure in females, ataxia. and growth delays are not fully understood. Routine monitoring of patients with GALT deficiency includes determining metabolite levels (galactose 1-phosphate in red blood cells and galactitol in urine) to measure the effectiveness of and adherence to dietary therapy, ophthalmologic examination for the detection of cataracts and assessment of speech, with the possibility of speech therapy if developmental verbal dyspraxia is evident.
For most horses, diet has a significant impact on the degree of clinical signs. PSSM horses fed diets high in nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC), which stimulate insulin secretion, have been shown to have increased severity of rhabdomyolysis with exercise. Current recommendations for horses with PSSM include a low-starch, high-fat diet. Low-starch diets produce low blood glucose and insulin levels after eating, which may reduce the amount of glucose taken up by the muscle cells. High fat diets increase free fatty acid concentrations in the blood, which may promote the use of fat for energy (via free fatty acid oxidation) over glucose metabolism. Horses with the most severe clinical signs often show the greatest improvement on the diet.
Dietary recommendations usually include a combination of calorie restriction, reduction of daily NSC content, and an increase in dietary fat. Diet recommendations need to be balanced with the animal's body condition score and exercise level, as it may be beneficial to wait on increasing dietary fat after an obese animal has lost weight. The diet should have <10% of digestible energy coming from NSC, and 15-20% of daily digestible energy coming from fat.
The goal for treatment of GSD type 0 is to avoid hypoglycemia. This is accomplished by avoiding fasting by eating every 3-4 hours during the day. At night, uncooked corn starch can be given because it is a complex glucose polymer. This will be acted on slowly by pancreatic amylase and glucose will be absorbed over a 6 hour period.
There are a multiple ways to treat Gunther's diseases, but one of the most crucial things that a person with this disease can do is limit themselves from sun exposure or eliminate sun exposure altogether. There are some sunscreens that have undesirable effects such as tropical sunscreens, but other sunscreens that have zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in them are shown to provide protection due to those light-reflective agents. To block the ultraviolet and visible light wavelengths and get the protection that patients with Gunther's disease require, physical barriers are needed. It is also advised that patients wear protective clothing to block the sun from their skin. Plastic films can be attached to car windows and homes to filter out some of the wavelengths that could cause harm to someone's skin suffering with this disease. Incandescent bulbs replace the normal fluorescent lamps. These bulbs release less light, which prevents the "porphyrin-exciting" wavelengths that fluorescent lights emit.
Other less beneficial treatments have been used to help treat Gunther's disease. These include oral beta-carotene and other treatments such as activated charcoal and cholestyramine, which are used to interrupt and stop the porphyrins from being reabsorbed in the body. The reason that these oral treatments are unreasonable is because they require an extremely large dose of medicine and therefore are not beneficial.
Erythrocyte transfusions have been shown to be a successful measure in decreasing the appearance of the disease by trying to lower the erythropoiesis and circulating porphyrin levels. Unfortunately, having chronic erythrocyte transfusions, it can be extremely harmful to the body and can cause severe complications.
To help with dry eye symptoms and visual function, using topical lubrication can be used.
A more invasive way to help treat Gunther's disease would be to have surgery. There have been numerous studies that have stated that bone marrow transplantation is successful. This is a recently new development for Gunther's disease so the long-term effects are still unresourced. If a patient has a life-threatening infectious complication then bone marrow transplantation is no longer relevant for them.
There are also reports that stem cell transplantation is successful in a limited number of participants