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The management of Glycogen storage disease IX requires treatment of symptoms by frequent intake of complex carbohydrates and protein to combat the low blood sugar. A nutritionist will advise on suitable diets. Liver function is regularly monitored and problems managed as they arise. However, liver problems have only been successfully treated by a transplant. Routine checks of metabolism are needed to ensure blood sugar (glucose) and ketones are managed. Regular moderate exercise is beneficial, although over-vigorous exercise is to be avoided, especially in those with enlarged livers.
Treatments for Glycerol Kinase Deficiency are targeted to treat the symptoms because there are no permanent treatments for this disease. The main way to treat these symptoms is by using corticosteroids, glucose infusion, or mineralocorticoids. Corticosteroids are steroid hormones that are naturally produced in the adrenal glands. These hormones regulate stress responses, carbohydrate metabolism, blood electrolyte levels, as well as other uses. The mineralocorticoids, such as aldosterone control many electrolyte levels and allow the kidneys to retain sodium. Glucose infusion is coupled with insulin infusion to monitor blood glucose levels and keep them stable.
Due to the multitude of varying symptoms of this disease, there is no specific treatment that will cure this disease altogether. The symptoms can be treated with many different treatments and combinations of medicines to try to find the correct combination to offset the specific symptoms. Everyone with Glycerol Kinase Deficiency has varying degrees of symptoms and thereby requires different medicines to be used in combination to treat the symptoms; however, this disease is not curable and the symptoms can only be managed, not treated fully.
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.
Treatment is depended on the type of glycogen storage disease. E.g. GSD I is typically treated with frequent small meals of carbohydrates and cornstarch to prevent low blood sugar, while other treatments may include allopurinol and human granulocyte colony stimulating factor.
In adults, fibrates and statins have been prescribed to treat hyperglycerolemia by lowering blood glycerol levels. Fibrates are a class of drugs that are known as amphipathic carboxylic acids that are often used in combination with Statins. Fibrates work by lowering blood triglyceride concentrations. When combined with statins, the combination will lower LDL cholesterol, lower blood triglycerides and increase HDL cholesterol levels.
If hyperglycerolemia is found in a young child without any family history of this condition, then it may be difficult to know whether the young child has the symptomatic or benign form of the disorder. Common treatments include: a low-fat diet, IV glucose if necessary, monitor for insulin resistance and diabetes, evaluate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, adrenal insufficiency & developmental delay.
The Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) does not list any treatments at this time.
Other therapeutic interventions include:
- ethosuximide and other anticonvulsant drugs
- GHB receptor antagonist NCS-382
- GABA receptor modulators
- uridine
- acamprosate
- dopaminergic agents
- dextromethorphan
- glutamine
- antioxidants
- Lamotrigine
The GABA(B) receptor antagonist, SGS-742, is currently being tested as a potential therapeutic in an NIH phase II clinical trial (NCT02019667).
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.
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.
There is no treatment for MKD. But, the inflammation and the other effects can be reduced to a certain extent.
- IL-1 targeting drugs can be used to reduce the effects of the disorder. Anakinra is antagonist to IL-1 receptors. Anakinra binds the IL-1 receptor, preventing the actions of both IL-1α and IL-1β, and it has been proved to reduce the clinical and biochemical inflammation in MKD. It can effectively decreases the frequency as well as the severity of inflammatory attacks when used on a daily basis. Disadvantages with the usage of this drug are occurrence of painful injection site reaction and as the drug is discontinued in the near future the febrile attacks start. (Examined in a 12-year-old patient).
- Canakinumab is a long acting monoclonal antibody which is directed against IL-1β has shown to be effective in reducing both frequency and severity in patients suffering from mild and severe MKD in case reports and observational case series. It reduces the physiological effects but the biochemical parameter still remain elevated (Galeotti et al. demonstrated that it is more effective than anakinra –considered 6 patients suffering from MKD).
- Anti-TNF therapy might be effective in MKD, but the effect is mostly partial and therapy failure and clinical deterioration have been described frequently in patients on infliximab or etanercept. A beneficial effect of human monoclonal anti-TNFα antibody adalimumab was seen in a small number of MKD patients.
- Most MKD patients are benefited by anti-IL-1 therapy. However, anti-IL-1-resistant disease may also occur. Example. tocilizumab (a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor). This drug is used when the patients are unresponsive towards Anakinra. (Shendi et al. treated a young woman in whom anakinra was ineffective with tocilizumab). It was found that it was effective in reducing the biochemical and clinical inflammation [30].Stoffels et al. observed reduction of frequency and severity of the inflammatory attacks, although after several months of treatment one of these two patients persistently showed mild inflammatory symptoms in the absence of biochemical inflammatory markers.
- A beneficial effect of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be used in severe mevalonate kinase deficiency conditions (Improvement of cerebral myelinisation on MRI after allogenic stem cell transplantation was observed in one girl). But, liver transplantation did not influence febrile attacks in this patient.
Cardiac and respiratory complications are treated symptomatically. Physical and occupational therapy may be beneficial for some patients. Alterations in diet may provide temporary improvement but will not alter the course of the disease. Genetic counseling can provide families with information regarding risk in future pregnancies.
On April 28, 2006 the US Food and Drug Administration approved a Biologic License Application (BLA) for Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa, rhGAA), the first treatment for patients with Pompe disease, developed by a team of Duke University researchers. This was based on enzyme replacement therapy using biologically active recombinant human alglucosidase alfa produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Myozyme falls under the FDA Orphan Drug designation and was approved under a priority review.
The FDA has approved Myozyme for administration by intravenous infusion of the solution. The safety and efficacy of Myozyme were assessed in two separate clinical trials in 39 infantile-onset patients with Pompe disease ranging in age from 1 month to 3.5 years at the time of the first infusion. Myozyme treatment clearly prolongs ventilator-free survival and overall survival. Early diagnosis and early treatment leads to much better outcomes. The treatment is not without side effects which include fever, flushing, skin rash, increased heart rate and even shock; these conditions, however, are usually manageable.
Myozyme costs an average of US$300,000 a year and must be taken for the patients' entire life, so some American insurers have refused to pay for it. On August 14, 2006, Health Canada approved Myozyme for the treatment of Pompe disease. On June 14, 2007 the Canadian Common Drug Review issued their recommendations regarding public funding for Myozyme therapy. Their recommendation was to provide funding to treat a very small subset of Pompe patients (Infants less one year of age with cardiomyopathy). Genzyme received broad approval in the European Union. On May 26, 2010 FDA approved Lumizyme, a similar version of Myozyme, for the treament of late-onset Pompe disease.
A new treatment option for this disease is called Lumizyme. Lumizyme and Myozyme have the same generic ingredient (Alglucosidase Alfa) and manufacturer (Genzyme Corporation). The difference between these two products is in the manufacturing process. Today, the Myozyme is made using a 160-L bioreactor, while the Lumizyme uses a 4000-L bioreactor. Because of the difference in the manufacturing process, the FDA claims that the two products are biologically different. Moreover, Lumizyme is FDA approved as replacement therapy for late-onset (noninfantile) Pompe disease without evidence of cardiac hypertrophy in patients 8 years and older. Myozyme is FDA approved for replacement therapy for infantile-onset Pompe disease.
Recent studies on chaperone molecules to be used with myozyme are starting to show promising results on animal models.
The GABA antagonist CGP-35348 (3-amino-propyl-(diethoxymethyl) phosphinic acid) has been used in Aldh5a1-/- mice with strong results. It has shown to reduce the frequency of absence seizures, though there have been some cases in which it worsened convulsive seizures.
Supervised exercise programs have been shown in small studies to improve exercise capacity by several measures.
Oral sucrose treatment (for example a sports drink with 75 grams of sucrose in 660 ml.) taken 30 minutes prior to exercise has been shown to help improve exercise tolerance including a lower heart rate and lower perceived level of exertion compared with placebo.
Diagnosis of canine phosphofructokinase deficiency is similar to the blood tests used in diagnosis of humans. Blood tests measuring the total erythrocyte PFK activity are used for definitive diagnosis in most cases. DNA testing for presence of the condition is also available.
Treatment mostly takes the form of supportive care. Owners are advised to keep their dogs out of stressful or exciting situations, avoid high temperature environments and strenuous exercise. It is also important for the owner to be alert for any signs of a hemolytic episode. Dogs carrying the mutated form of the gene should be removed from the breeding population, in order to reduce incidence of the condition.
The prognosis for individuals with Pompe disease varies according to the onset and severity of symptoms. Without treatment the disease is particularly lethal in infants and young children.
Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) is a recombinant form of the human enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase, and is also currently being used to replace the missing enzyme. In a study which included the largest cohort of patients with Pompe disease treated with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) to date findings showed that Myozyme treatment clearly prolongs ventilator-free survival and overall survival in patients with infantile-onset Pompe disease as compared to an untreated historical control population. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that initiation of ERT prior to 6 months of age, which could be facilitated by newborn screening, shows great promise to reduce the mortality and disability associated with this devastating disorder. Taiwan and several states in the United States have started the newborn screening and results of such regimen in early diagnosis and early initiation of the therapy have dramatically improved the outcome of the disease; many of these babies have reached the normal motor developmental milestones.
Another factor affecting the treatment response is generation of antibodies against the infused enzyme, which is particularly severe in Pompe infants who have complete deficiency of the acid alpha-glucosidase. Immune tolerance therapy to eliminate these antibodies has improved the treatment outcome.
A Late Onset Treatment Study (LOTS) was published in 2010. The study was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of aglucosidase alfa in juvenile and adult patients with Pompe disease. LOTS was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that enrolled 90 patients at eight primary sites in the United States and Europe. Participants received either aglucosidase alfa or a placebo every other week for 18 months. The average age of study participants was 44 years. The primary efficacy endpoints of the study sought to determine the effect of Myozyme on functional endurance as measured by the six-minute walk test and to determine the effect of aglucosidase alfa on pulmonary function as measured by percent predicted forced vital capacity.
The results showed that, at 78 weeks, patients treated with aglucosidase alfa increased their distance walked in six minutes by an average of approximately 25 meters as compared with the placebo group which declined by 3 meters (P=0.03). The placebo group did not show any improvement from baseline. The average baseline distance walked in six minutes in both groups was approximately 325 meters.
Percent predicted forced vital capacity in the group of patients treated with aglucosidase alfa increased by 1.2 percent at 78 weeks. In contrast, it declined by approximately 2.2 percent in the placebo group (P=0.006).
Horses with PSSM show fewer clinical signs if their exercise is slowly increased over time (i.e. they are slowly conditioned). Additionally, they are much more likely to develop muscle stiffness and rhabdomyolysis if they are exercised after prolonged stall rest.
Horses generally have fewer clinical signs when asked to perform short bouts of work at maximal activity level (aerobic exercise), although they have difficulty achieving maximal speed and tire faster than unaffected horses. They have more muscle damage when asked to perform lower intensity activity over a longer period of time (aerobic activity), due to an energy deficit in the muscle.
Nucleoside bypass therapy is an experimental treatment aimed to restore the normal levels of deoxyribonucleotides (dNTPs) in mitochondria.
A diagnosis can be made through a muscle biopsy that shows excess glycogen accumulation. Glycogen deposits in the muscle are a result of the interruption of normal glucose breakdown that regulates the breakdown of glycogen. Blood tests are conducted to measure the activity of phosphofructokinase, which would be lower in a patient with this condition. Patients also commonly display elevated levels of creatine kinase.
Treatment usually entails that the patient refrain from strenuous exercise to prevent muscle pain and cramping. Avoiding carbohydrates is also recommended.
A ketogenic diet also improved the symptoms of an infant with PFK deficiency. The logic behind this treatment is that the low-carb high fat diet forces the body to use fatty acids as a primary energy source instead of glucose. This bypasses the enzymatic defect in glycolysis, lessening the impact of the mutated PFKM enzymes. This has not been widely studied enough to prove if it is a viable treatment, but testing is continuing to explore this option.
Genetic testing to determine whether or not a person is a carrier of the mutated gene is also available.
Currently this sub-type of muscular dystrophy has no cure and no "definitive" treatment exists. Treatment offers preventative tactics to delay muscle breakdown and increase life expectancy. Stretching and physical therapy can increase mobility. Treatment also includes correcting skeletal abnormalities through orthopedic surgery and other orthopedic techniques. Antiepileptic medication is administered to help prevent seizures. ACE inhibitors and beta blockers help treat heart conditions, and respiratory assistance is more than likely needed at some point for the affected individual
There are no treatments for MDDS, but some of the symptoms can be managed. For survivors living with MDDS, there are drugs to control epilepsy, and physical therapy can help with muscle control. Liver transplants may benefit people with liver involvement.
It is important for MADD patients to maintain strength and fitness without exercising or working to exhaustion. Learning this balance may be more difficult than normally, as muscle pain and fatigue may be perceived differently from normal individuals.
Symptomatic relief from the effects of MADD may sometimes be achieved by administering ribose orally at a dose of approximately 10 grams per 100 pounds (0.2 g/kg) of body weight per day, and exercise modulation as appropriate. Taken hourly, ribose provides a direct but limited source of energy for the cells. Patients with myoadenylate deaminase deficiency do not retain ribose during heavy exercise, so supplementation may be required to rebuild levels of ATP.
Creatine monohydrate could also be helpful for AMPD patients, as it provides an alternative source of energy for anaerobic muscle tissue and was found to be helpful in the treatment of other, unrelated muscular myopathies.
Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) is "often difficult to diagnose because of a broad differential diagnosis and lack of specific laboratory findings. Identification of the underlying mutation is critical, as certain mutations lead to treatment-responsive conditions while others do not." Whole exome sequencing (WES) is often used as a diagnostic tool that allows for the "initiation of specific treatment".
Treatment depends on the form (category) of the disease. Although symptoms are similar to myasthenia gravis, treatments used in MG are not useful in CMS. MG is treated with immunosuppressants, but CMS is not an autoimmune disorder. Instead, CMS is genetic and responds to other forms of drug treatments.
A form of presynaptic CMS is caused by an insufficient release of acetylcholine (ACh) and is treated with cholinesterase inhibitors.
Postsynaptic fast-channel CMS (ACh receptors do not stay open long enough) is treated with cholinesterase inhibitors and 3,4-diaminopyridine. In the U.S., the more stable phosphate salt formulation of 3,4-diaminopyridine (amifampyridine phosphate) is under development as an orphan drug for CMS and is available to eligible patients at no cost under an expanded access program by Catalyst Pharmaceuticals.
Postsynaptic slow-channel CMS is treated with quinidine or fluoxetine, which plugs the ACh receptor.
Ephedrine has been tested on patients in clinical trials and appears to be an effective treatment for DOK7 CMS. Most patients tolerate this type of treatment and improvements in strength can be impressive. Further research must be done in order to determine the long-term response of ephedrine as well as the most effective dosage regimen. Ephedrine can lead to a profound improvement in muscle strength and an even more impressive effect on day-to-day function. The effect of ephedrine is delayed and the improvement occurs over a period of months. Ephedrine was given at doses between 15 and 90 mg/day and as a result, muscle strength improved
Treatment for acquired noninflammatory myopathy is directed towards resolution of the underlying condition, pain management, and muscle rehabilitation.
Drug induced ANIMs can be reversed or improved by tapering off of the drugs and finding alternative care. Hyperthyroidism induced ANIM can be treated through anti-thyroid drugs, surgery and not eating foods high in Iodine such as kelp. Treatment of the hyperthyroidism results in complete recovery of the myopathy. ANIM caused by vitamin D deficiency can easily be resolved by taking vitamin supplements and increasing one's exposure to direct sunlight.
Pain can be managed through massaging affected areas and the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Exercise, physical therapy, and occupational therapy can be used to rehabilitate affected muscle areas and resist the atrophy process.
As with all myopathies, the use of walkers, canes, and braces can assist with the mobility of the afflicted individual.
In terms of treatment for individuals with Nezelof syndrome, which was first characterized in 1964, includes the following(how effective bone marrow transplant is uncertain) :
- Antimicrobial therapy
- IV immunoglobulin
- Bone marrow transplantation
- Thymus transplantation
- Thymus factors
There is no specific treatment but triggering anesthetics are avoided and relatives are screened for "RYR1" mutations as these may make them susceptible to MH.
Congenital dSMA has a relatively stable disease course, with disability mainly attributed to increased contractures rather than loss of muscle strength. Individuals frequently use crutches, knee, ankle, and/or foot orthoses, or wheelchairs. Orthopaedic surgery can be an option for some patients with severely impaired movement. Physical therapy and occupational therapy can help prevent further contractures from occurring, though they do not reverse the effects of preexisting ones. Some literature suggests the use of electrical stimulation or botulinum toxin to halt the progression of contractures.