Publications by authors named "Heron B"

Article Synopsis
  • RETRIEVE is a natural history study focused on the survival and disease progression of early-onset GM1, GM2, and type 2 Gaucher disease (GD2).
  • The study gathered data from 185 patients retrospectively and 40 patients prospectively, revealing varying median survival rates: GM1 (19 months), GM2 (44 months), and GD2 (14 months).
  • The findings noted that hypotonia was widespread among GM1 patients (94.4%), with additional symptoms like strabismus and splenomegaly specifically observed in GD2 patients, confirming known patterns of these rare lysosomal storage disorders.
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  • Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is a serious genetic disease that can affect people from childhood to adulthood, caused by problems with a gene called SMPD1.
  • A study reviewed medical records from 27 hospitals in France to learn more about the health and survival of patients with ASMD from 1990 to 2020.
  • The results showed that patients with type A usually did not live past early childhood, while those with type B lived longer, but there were still risks of early death from serious illnesses like neurodegeneration and cancer.
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Introduction: The treatment of cancer is associated with high risk for toxicity and high cost. Strategies to enhance the value, quality, and safety of cancer care are often managed independently of one another. Oncology stewardship is a potential framework to unify these efforts and enhance outcomes.

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Background: Engagement and partnership with consumers and communities throughout research processes produces high quality research meeting community needs and promoting translation of research into improved policy and practice. Partnership is critical in research involving Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people (First Nations Peoples) to ensure cultural safety. We present lessons from the design, implementation and progress of the National Health and Medical Research Council funded INtravenous iron polymaltose for First Nations Australian patients with high FERRitin levels on hemodialysis (INFERR) clinical trial.

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  • Sodium dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT) deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that causes health issues due to a lack of certain vitamins, affecting around 10 known families.
  • This study introduced 4 new patients from Algeria, all sharing a specific genetic mutation related to SMVT, confirming its harmful effects through RNA analysis.
  • The patients exhibited similar symptoms, including optic atrophy, severe vomiting, and rapid neurological decline, suggesting a common genetic background due to a "founder effect."
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Purpose: Interneuronopathies are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficient migration and differentiation of gamma-aminobutyric acidergic interneurons resulting in a broad clinical spectrum, including autism spectrum disorders, early-onset epileptic encephalopathy, intellectual disability, and schizophrenic disorders. SP9 is a transcription factor belonging to the Krüppel-like factor and specificity protein family, the members of which harbor highly conserved DNA-binding domains. SP9 plays a central role in interneuron development and tangential migration, but it has not yet been implicated in a human neurodevelopmental disorder.

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  • A training program on haemorrhage control for Ukrainian EMS staff was designed and delivered amid the ongoing war, addressing the urgent need for advanced emergency care due to the influx of trauma patients.
  • Developed in collaboration with Irish and Ukrainian experts, the training included one day of hands-on courses focusing on the administration of tranexamic acid and intraosseous access for trauma victims, with participant feedback collected.
  • Results showed that after the training, 89 EMS staff members became competent in their roles and reported high satisfaction along with significantly improved confidence and skills in providing advanced care.
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Cholera is a major public health problem in developing and underdeveloped countries; however, it remains of concern to developed countries such as Australia as international travel-related or locally acquired cholera or diarrheal disease cases are still reported. Cholera is mainly caused by cholera toxin (CT) producing toxigenic O1 and O139 serogroup strains. While most toxigenic cases in Australia are thought to be caused by international-acquired infections, Australia has its own indigenous toxigenic and non-toxigenic O1 and non-O1, non-O139 (NOVC) strains.

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Background: Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) is a rare neurovisceral lysosomal lipid storage disease characterized by progressive neurodegeneration and premature death. While miglustat can stabilize neurological manifestations in later onset forms of NP-C, its efficacy in the early-infantile neurological form has not been demonstrated. In this observational retrospective study, we compared long-term neurodevelopmental outcome and survival between an untreated and a treated group of early infantile NP-C patients.

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Salmonellosis is a significant public health problem globally. In Australia, serovar Enteritidis is one of the main causes of salmonellosis. This study reports how the implementation of routine genetic surveillance of isolates from human .

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GM1 gangliosidosis is a rare lysosomal storage disorder associated with β-galactosidase enzyme deficiency. There are three types of GM1 gangliosidosis based on age of symptom onset, which correlate with disease severity. In 2019, we performed a retrospective multicentric study including all patients diagnosed with GM1 gangliosidosis in France since 1998.

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Article Synopsis
  • Loss of function variants in CACNA1A are linked to various neurological disorders, such as episodic ataxia and developmental delays, with splicing defects being a key contributor.
  • Researchers studied 11 variants of unknown significance in patients with ataxia, finding abnormal transcripts in 10 cases, eight of which were deemed harmful.
  • The study confirmed the effectiveness of RNA sequencing over traditional methods, solidifying nine novel CACNA1A variants as pathogenic while suggesting flexibility in laboratory methods based on available resources.
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Sphingolipids function as membrane constituents and signaling molecules, with crucial roles in human diseases, from neurodevelopmental disorders to cancer, best exemplified in the inborn errors of sphingolipid metabolism in lysosomes. The dihydroceramide desaturase Δ4-dihydroceramide desaturase 1 (DEGS1) acts in the last step of a sector of the sphingolipid pathway, de novo ceramide biosynthesis. Defects in DEGS1 cause the recently described hypomyelinating leukodystrophy-18 (HLD18) (OMIM #618404).

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Vibrio cholerae O1 is the causative agent of cholera, a severe diarrheal disease which can cause death if left untreated. In this study, a collection of clinical and environmental V. cholerae serogroup O1 isolates from Australia (1977 to 1987) (from local cases and cases acquired through international travel) and publicly available international isolates were characterized for genotypic features (virulence genes, mobile genetic elements [MGEs], and antimicrobial resistance gene profiles).

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Purpose: In this study, we describe the phenotype and genotype of the largest cohort of patients with Joubert syndrome (JS) carrying pathogenic variants on one of the most frequent causative genes, .

Methods: We selected 53 patients with pathogenic variants on , compiled and analysed their clinical, neuroimaging and genetic information and compared it to previous literature.

Results: Developmental delay (motor and language) was nearly constant but patients had normal intellectual efficiency in 74% of cases (20/27 patients) and 68% followed mainstream schooling despite learning difficulties.

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Objective: To describe the clinical features and course of liver involvement in a cohort of patients with Niemann-Pick type C disease (NP-C), a severe lysosomal storage disorder.

Study Design: Patients with genetically confirmed NP-C (NPC1, n = 31; NPC2, n = 3) and liver involvement before age 6 months were retrospectively included. Clinical, laboratory test, and imaging data were collected until the last follow-up or death; available liver biopsy specimens were studied using anti-CD68 immunostaining.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study reports on seven patients with Marbach-Schaaf neurodevelopmental syndrome, all sharing the same genetic variant in the PRKAR1B gene, which affects their neurological development.
  • Key symptoms include global developmental delay, reduced pain sensitivity, and some behavioral issues, with only one patient formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), suggesting a lower prevalence of ASD in this syndrome than previously thought.
  • The findings indicate that PRKAR1B plays a significant role in neuron function and highlights the need to explore molecular mechanisms to better understand the disorder's diverse clinical presentations.
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Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an economically devastating disease of swine in many parts of the world. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) type 1 is endemic in Europe, and prevalence of the subtypes differ spatially. In this study, we investigated a severe PRRS outbreak reported in 30 farms located in eastern Russia that belong to a large swine production company in the region that was also experiencing a pseudorabies outbreak in the system.

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Background: MPS IIIA is a rare, degenerative pediatric genetic disease characterized by symptoms impacting cognition, mobility and behavior; the mean age of death is around 15 years of age. Currently, there are no approved therapies for MPS IIIA.

Methods: A two-year, multi-center, prospective, descriptive cohort study was conducted to document the natural history course of MPS IIIA.

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Background: Transition from childhood to adulthood (TCA) is usually difficult in rare, progressive and multisystemic diseases. New treatments and modalities of care for many lysosomal diseases (LD) can increase life expectancy, and a successful TCA can help patient who reach adulthood to avoid disruption to health care. In France, some TCA initiatives have been taken by referral centers but in view of the problems encountered by Vaincre les Maladies Lysosomales (VML), the LD patient association, they seem to be insufficient.

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Background And Objectives: To determine common clinical and biological traits in 2 individuals with variants in and , displaying severe and recurrent rhabdomyolyses and lactic acidosis.

Methods: We performed a clinical characterization of 2 distinct individuals with biallelic or variants from 2 separate families and a biological characterization with muscle and cells from those patients.

Results: The individual with variants was clinically more affected than the individual with variants.

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Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPS IIIA, also known as Sanfilippo syndrome) is a rare genetic lysosomal storage disease characterized by early and progressive neurodegeneration resulting in a rapid decline in cognitive function affecting speech and language, adaptive behavior, and motor skills. We carried out a prospective observational study to assess the natural history of patients with MPS IIIA, using both standardized tests and patient-centric measures to determine the course of disease progression over a 2-year period. A cohort of 23 patients (7 girls, 16 boys; mean age 28-105 months at baseline) with a confirmed diagnosis of MPS IIIA were assessed and followed up at intervals of 3-6 months; cognitive function was measured using Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd edition (BSID-III) to derive cognitive development quotients (DQ).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effectiveness of intravenous iron treatment for First Nations Australians with end-stage kidney disease who have high ferritin levels and low transferrin saturation while undergoing haemodialysis.
  • It involves a randomized controlled trial with 576 participants, comparing those receiving monthly intravenous iron to a standard treatment group without iron therapy.
  • The main goal is to determine the impact of iron treatment on hospitalizations due to infections or overall mortality, alongside an economic analysis and other secondary outcomes.
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