Publications by authors named "Blanco-Arias P"

X-linked myopathy with excessive autophagy is a rare inherited disease characterized by aberrant accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in skeletal muscle. Affected males usually show a slow progression and the heart is characteristically spared. We present four male patients from the same family with an extremely aggressive form of this disease, requiring permanent mechanical ventilation from birth.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (ARCA1/SCAR8) is caused by mutations of the SYNE1 gene. The disease was initially described in families from Quebec (Canada) with a phenotype of pure cerebellar syndrome, but in recent years has been reported with a more variable clinical phenotype in other countries. Cases have recently been described of muscular dystrophy, arthrogryposis, and cardiomyopathy due to SYNE1 mutations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (ARCA1/SCAR8) is caused by mutations of the SYNE1 gene. The disease was initially described in families from Quebec (Canada) with a phenotype of pure cerebellar syndrome, but in recent years has been reported with a more variable clinical phenotype in other countries. Cases have recently been described of muscular dystrophy, arthrogryposis, and cardiomyopathy due to SYNE1 mutations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a rare neuromuscular condition caused by mutations in the MTM1 gene. Female carriers are believed to be usually asymptomatic; nevertheless, recent reports have displayed a wide a spectrum of clinical involvement in females suggesting that MTM1 mutations might be underestimated in this population. Here we report a 55-year-old woman manifesting with an abrupt respiratory decline, whose respiratory function tests revealed a severe restrictive ventilatory defect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mutations in the GDAP1 gene can cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. These mutations are quite rare in most Western countries but not so in certain regions of Spain or other Mediterranean countries. This cross-sectional retrospective multicenter study analyzed the clinical and genetic characteristics of patients with GDAP1 mutations across Spain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There are few reports on axonal CMT due to dominant GDAP1 mutations. We describe two unrelated Spanish families with a dominant axonal CMT. A novel in frame GAA deletion in exon 5 of the GDAP1 gene (c.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Myoclonus-dystonia syndrome (MDS) is an autosomal dominant movement disorder caused by mutations in the SGCE gene. MDS is characterized by mild dystonia and myoclonic jerks, and a constellation of psychiatric manifestations. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of bilateral internal globus pallidus (GPi) has recently been introduced as a new and beneficial technique to improve motor symptoms in MDS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Next generation sequencing (NGS) is transforming the diagnostic approach for neurological disorders, since it allows simultaneous analysis of hundreds of genes, even based on just a broad, syndromic patient categorization. However, such an approach bears a high risk of incidental and uncertain genetic findings. We report a patient with spastic paraplegia whose comprehensive neurological and imaging examination raised a high clinical suspicion of SPG11.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) is an uncommon autosomal dominant cancer syndrome which can be associated with nerve conduction abnormalities.

Methods: A 14-year-old boy with a family history of consanguinity developed progressive gait clumsiness, pes cavus, hypotonia, and mucosal tumors of the lips and tongue since the age of 3 years. At age 11 years, he was diagnosed with an hereditary motor neuropathy (Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spinocerebellar ataxia 36 has been recently described in Japanese families as a new type of spinocerebellar ataxia with motor neuron signs. It is caused by a GGCCTG repeat expansion in intron 1 of NOP56. Family interview and document research allowed us to reconstruct two extensive, multigenerational kindreds stemming from the same village (Costa da Morte in Galicia, Spain), in the 17th century.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study aimed to identify the genetic defect in a multigenerational family presenting an autosomal dominant myopathy with histological features of congenital fiber type disproportion. Linkage analysis and genetic sequencing identified, in all affected members of the family, the c.5807A>G heterozygous mutation in MYH7, which encodes the slow/β-cardiac myosin heavy chain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In order to evaluate the contribution of 19 serotonin-related genes to the susceptibility to migraine in a Spanish population we performed a case-control association study of 122 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), selected according to genetic coverage parameters, in 528 migraine patients -308 with migraine without aura (MO) and 220 with migraine with aura (MA)- and 528 sex-matched migraine-free controls. The single-marker analysis identified nominal associations with the migraine phenotype or with the MO or MA subtypes. The multiple-marker analysis revealed risk haplotypes in three genes that remained significantly associated with migraine after correction by permutations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Na(+)/K(+)-ATPases are ion pumps of fundamental importance in maintaining the electrochemical gradient essential for neuronal survival and function. Mutations in ATP1A3 encoding the alpha3 isoform cause rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP). We report a de novo ATP1A3 mutation in a patient with typical RDP, consisting of an in-frame insertion of a tyrosine residue at the very C terminus of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase alpha3-subunit-the first reported RDP mutation in the C terminus of the protein.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Desminopathies represent a subtype of myofibrillar myopathy caused by mutations in the DES gene, which cause myofibril disruption and intracellular inclusions containing desmin and other protein components. Desminopathy mainly involves skeletal and cardiac muscle, separately or together. Both autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive inheritance have been reported.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Protocadherin X and Y (PCDHX/Y) represent a pair of homologous genes located on the human sex chromosomes that are primarily expressed in the brain. PCDHY emerged as a result of a duplicative transposition from the X Chromosome (Chr) and is present on the Y only in hominids. Previous zoo-blot analysis suggested the existence of PCDHX orthologs on the X Chr of several mammalian species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The gene-poor, hominid-specific Yp11.2/Xq21.3 X-Y homology block encodes two members of the protocadherin group of cell surface molecules, PCDHX and PCDHY.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Yp11.2/Xq21.3 is a human-specific homology block that constitutes the largest shared region among the sex chromosomes, spanning some 3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF