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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 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.
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.
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.
In common forms of MTHFR deficiency, elevated plasma homocysteine levels have sometimes been treated with Vitamin B12 and low doses of folic acid. Although this treatment significantly decreases the serum levels of homocysteine, this treatment is not thought to improve health outcomes.
Due to the ineffectiveness of these treatments, it is no-longer considered clinically useful to test for MTHFR in most cases of thrombophilia or recurrent pregnancy loss.
Depending on clinical status and the blood ammonia level, the logical first step is to reduce protein intake and to attempt to maintain energy intake. Initiate intravenous infusion of 10% glucose (or higher, if administered through a central line) and lipids.
Intravenous sodium benzoate and sodium phenylacetate may be helpful. Arginine is usually administered with benzoate and phenylacetate. This is best administered in the setting of a major medical center where facilities for hemodialysis in infants is available.
Glycerol phenylbutyrate is a pre-prodrug that undergoes metabolism to form phenylacetate. Results of a phase 3 study comparing ammonia control in adults showed glycerol phenylbutyrate was noninferior to sodium phenylbutyrate. In a separate study involving young children ages 2 months through 5 years, glycerol phenylbutyrate resulted in a more evenly distributed urinary output of PAGN over 24 hours and accounted for fewer symptoms from accumulation of phenylacetate.
In patients with an extremely high blood ammonia level, rapid treatment with hemodialysis is indicated.
Metabolic disease specialists should provide long-term care with very close and frequent follow-up.
Medical Care
- Treatment may be provided on an outpatient basis.
- Cataracts that do not regress or disappear with therapy may require hospitalization for surgical removal.
Surgical Care
- Cataracts may require surgical removal.
Consultations
- Biochemical geneticist
- Nutritionist
- Ophthalmologist
Diet
- Diet is the foundation of therapy. Elimination of lactose and galactose sources suffices for definitive therapy.
Activity
- No restriction is necessary.
(Roth MD, Karl S. 2009)
No treatment is available for most of these disorders. Mannose supplementation relieves the symptoms in PMI-CDG (CDG-Ib) for the most part, even though the hepatic fibrosis may persist. Fucose supplementation has had a partial effect on some SLC35C1-CDG (CDG-IIc or LAD-II) patients.
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.
Typically no treatment is needed. If jaundice is significant phenobarbital may be used.
Currently, there is no specific treatment to correct the LCAT deficiency so therapy is focused on symptom relief. Corneal transplant may be considered for patients presenting with severely impaired vision caused by cholesterol corneal opacities. Dialysis may be required for patients presenting with renal failure, and kidney transplant may be considered.
Currently, there is no cure for laminopathies and treatment is largely symptomatic and supportive. Physical therapy and/or corrective orthopedic surgery may be helpful for patients with muscular dystrophies. Cardiac problems that occur with some laminopathies may require a pacemaker. Treatment for neuropathies may include medication for seizures and spasticity.
The recent progress in uncovering the molecular mechanisms of toxic progerin formation in laminopathies leading to premature aging has opened up the potential for the development of targeted treatment. The farnesylation of prelamin A and its pathological form progerin is carried out by the enzyme farnesyl transferase. Farnesyl transferase inhibitors (FTIs) can be used effectively to reduce symptoms in two mouse model systems for progeria and to revert the abnormal nuclear morphology in progeroid cell cultures. Two oral FTIs, lonafarnib and tipifarnib, are already in use as anti-tumor medication in humans and may become avenues of treatment for children suffering from laminopathic progeria. Nitrogen-containing bisphosphate drugs used in the treatment of osteoporosis reduce farnesyldiphosphate production and thus prelamin A farnesylation. Testing of these drugs may prove them to be useful in treating progeria as well. The use of antisense oligonucleotides to inhibit progerin synthesis in affected cells is another avenue of current research into the development of anti-progerin drugs.
There are several treatments available for bleeding due to factor X deficiency, however a specifi FX concentrate is not available (2009).
1. Prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) supplies FX with a risk of thrombosis.
2. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP): This is relatively inexpensive and readily available. While effective this treatment carries a risk of blood-borne viruses and fluid overload.
3. If vitamin K levels are low, vitamin K can be supplied orally or parenterally.
Treatment of FX deficiency in amyloidosis may be more complex and involve surgery (splenectomy) and chemotherapy.
Medications can interfere with folate utilization, including:
- anticonvulsant medications (such as phenytoin, primidone, carbamazepine or valproate )
- metformin (sometimes prescribed to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes)
- methotrexate, an anti-cancer drug also used to control inflammation associated with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
- sulfasalazine (used to control inflammation associated with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis)
- triamterene (a diuretic)
- birth control pills
When methotrexate is prescribed, folic acid supplements are sometimes given with the methotrexate. The therapeutic effects of methotrexate are due to its inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase and thereby reduce the rate "de novo" purine and pyrimidine synthesis and cell division. Methotrexate inhibits cell division and is particularly toxic to fast dividing cells, such as rapidly dividing cancer cells and the progenitor cells of the immune system. Folate supplementation is beneficial in patients being treated with long-term, low-dose methotrexate for inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or psoriasis, to avoid macrocytic anemia caused by folate deficiency. Folate is often also supplemented before some high dose chemotherapy treatments in an effort to protect healthy tissue. However, it may be counterproductive to take a folic acid supplement with methotrexate in cancer treatment.
Initial treatment is supportive, with the use of agents to treat cholestasis and pruritus, including the following:
- Ursodeoxycholic acid
- Cholestyramine
- Rifampin
- Naloxone, in refractory cases
The partial external biliary diversion (PEBD) procedure is a surgical approach that diverts bile from the gallbladder externally into an ileostomy bag.
Patients should be supplemented with fat-soluble vitamins, and occasionally medium-chain triglycerides in order to improve growth.
When liver synthetic dysfunction is significant, patients should be listed for transplantation. Family members should be tested for PFIC mutations, in order to determine risk of transmission.
Infant mortality is high for patients diagnosed with early onset; mortality can occur within less than 2 months, while children diagnosed with late-onset syndrome seem to have higher rates of survival. Patients suffering from a complete lesion of mut0 have not only the poorest outcome of those suffering from methylaonyl-CoA mutase deficiency, but also of all individuals suffering from any form of methylmalonic acidemia.
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.
Several tests can be done to discover the dysfunction of methylmalonyl-CoA mutase. Ammonia test, blood count, CT scan, MRI scan, electrolyte levels, genetic testing, methylmalonic acid blood test, and blood plasma amino acid tests all can be conducted to determine deficiency.
There is no treatment for complete lesion of the mut0 gene, though several treatments can help those with slight genetic dysfunction. Liver and kidney transplants, and a low-protein diet all help regulate the effects of the diseases.
Although patients can receive intensive antibiotherapy and even granulocyte transfusions from healthy donors, the only current curative therapy is the hematopoietic stem cell transplant. However, progress has been made in gene therapy, an active area of research. Both foamyviral and lentiviral vectors expressing the human ITGB2 gene under the control of different promoters have been developed and have been tested so far in preclinical LAD-I models (such as CD18-deficient mice and canine leukocyte adhesion deficiency-affected dogs).
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.
Whether MTHFR deficiency has any effect at all on all-cause mortality is unclear. One Dutch study showed that the MTHFR mutation was more prevalent in younger individuals (36% relative to 30%), and found that elderly men with MTHFR had an elevated mortality rate, attributable to cancer. Among women, however, no difference in life expectancy was seen. More recently, however, a meta-analysis has shown that overall cancer rates are barely increased with an odds ratio of 1.07, which suggests that an impact on mortality from cancer is small or zero.
Renal failure is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in complete LCAT deficiency, while in partial deficiency (fish eye disease) major cause of morbidity is visual impairment due to corneal opacity. These patients have low HDL cholesterol but surprisingly premature atherosclerosis is not seen. However, there are some reported cases.
There are several treatments available for factor VII deficiency; they all replace deficient FVII.
1. Recombinant FVIIa concentrate (rFVIIa) is a recombinant treatment that is highly effective and has no risk of fluid overload or viral disease. It may be the optimal therapy.
2. Plasma derived Factor VII concentrate (pdFVII) : This treatment is suitable for surgery but can lead to thrombosis. It is virus attenuated.
3. Prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) containing factor VII: this treatment is suitable for surgery, but has a risk of thrombosis. It is virus attenuated.
4. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP): This is relatively inexpensive and readily available. While effective this treatment carries a risk of blood-borne viruses and fluid overload.
The most important measure is prevention – avoidance of the drugs and foods that cause hemolysis. Vaccination against some common pathogens (e.g. hepatitis A and hepatitis B) may prevent infection-induced attacks.
In the acute phase of hemolysis, blood transfusions might be necessary, or even dialysis in acute kidney failure. Blood transfusion is an important symptomatic measure, as the transfused red cells are generally not G6PD deficient and will live a normal lifespan in the recipient's circulation. Those affected should avoid drugs such as aspirin.
Some patients may benefit from removal of the spleen (splenectomy), as this is an important site of red cell destruction. Folic acid should be used in any disorder featuring a high red cell turnover. Although vitamin E and selenium have antioxidant properties, their use does not decrease the severity of G6PD deficiency.
Prognosis is good, and treatment of this syndrome is usually unnecessary. Most patients are asymptomatic and have normal lifespans. Some neonates present with cholestasis. Hormonal contraceptives and pregnancy may lead to overt jaundice and icterus (yellowing of the eyes and skin).