Publications by authors named "Karaa Amel"

Article Synopsis
  • The MMPOWER-3 clinical trial initially found no overall benefit of elamipretide for adults with primary mitochondrial myopathy, but a subgroup with nuclear DNA variants showed improvement in a six-minute walk test.
  • A large portion of the trial subjects had mitochondrial DNA variants, with particular improvements noted among those possessing pathogenic variants related to mtDNA maintenance.
  • Further analyses aim to identify trends among responders to assist in designing a more targeted Phase 3 trial for those likely to benefit from elamipretide.
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Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), a lysosomal disorder caused by variants in IDUA, was added to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel for newborn screening in 2016. Positive screening results for MPS I are commonly due to variants known as "pseudodeficiency alleles," which decrease in vitro alpha-L-iduronidase enzyme activity but are thought to provide sufficient in vivo activity. Despite the historic assumption that these variants are biologically benign, the possibility that they could give rise to complex, multigenic, or attenuated phenotypes has not been systemically evaluated in adults.

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T cells have been shown to maintain a lower percentage (heteroplasmy) of the pathogenic m.3243A>G variant (MT-TL1, associated with maternally inherited diabetes and deafness [MIDD] and mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes [MELAS]). The mechanism(s) underlying this purifying selection, however, remain unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • Primary mitochondrial myopathies are genetic disorders that mainly affect skeletal muscles, leading to symptoms like muscle weakness and fatigue, which significantly alter patients' quality of life.
  • The study involved interviews with 16 patients to identify the most bothersome fatigue-related symptoms and assess the relevance of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale for this group.
  • Results showed that fatigue was the most critical symptom for patients and that the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale effectively captured their experiences, suggesting its potential use in future clinical trials to evaluate treatment benefits for fatigue-related impacts.
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  • Pegunigalsidase alfa is a new enzyme replacement therapy compared to agalsidase beta for treating Fabry disease, evaluated through the BALANCE trial.
  • In the study, 77 adult patients were randomly assigned to receive either treatment every two weeks for two years, focusing on eGFR slope differences to measure effectiveness.
  • Results showed that pegunigalsidase alfa was not inferior to agalsidase beta in terms of eGFR decline, with fewer adverse events and infusion reactions for the new treatment.
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Inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs) are variably expressive, complicating identification of affected individuals. A genotype-first approach can identify individuals at risk for morbidity and mortality from undiagnosed IMDs and can lead to protocols that improve clinical detection, counseling, and management. Using data from 57,340 participants in two hospital biobanks, we assessed the frequency and phenotypes of individuals with pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants (PLPVs) in two IMD genes: , associated with Fabry disease, and , associated with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency.

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Article Synopsis
  • Fabry disease is a rare condition affecting multiple body systems, where gastrointestinal symptoms are common but their cause related to gut motility is unclear.
  • A study of 48 adult Fabry patients showed that symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating were prevalent, and while gut motility issues were identified, they only appeared in a minority of patients.
  • The research indicates that GI symptoms significantly impact quality of life and productivity, but they are often overlooked in treatment discussions, suggesting a need for better management strategies that address these issues.
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Article Synopsis
  • Mitochondrial diseases take years and many doctors to diagnose, creating a complex journey for patients, which this study aims to understand better.
  • The research, involving 215 survey participants, found that those who first consulted specialists had significantly higher diagnosis rates, and the average time from symptom onset to diagnosis was nearly ten years, with patients seeing an average of about seven doctors.
  • To improve diagnosis times and reduce the diagnostic journey, the study suggests better access to specialists and tests, while also emphasizing the need for reliable data and the potential role of Electronic Health Records in facilitating earlier diagnoses.
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Background And Objectives: Primary mitochondrial myopathies (PMMs) encompass a group of genetic disorders that impair mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, adversely affecting physical function, exercise capacity, and quality of life (QoL). Current PMM standards of care address symptoms, with limited clinical impact, constituting a significant therapeutic unmet need. We present data from MMPOWER-3, a pivotal, phase-3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of elamipretide in participants with genetically confirmed PMM.

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Primary mitochondrial diseases are some of the most common and complex inherited inborn errors of metabolism. Their molecular and phenotypic diversity has led to difficulties in finding disease-modifying therapies and clinical trial efforts have been slow due to multiple significant challenges. Lack of robust natural history data, difficulties in finding specific biomarkers, absence of well-validated outcome measures, and small patient numbers have made clinical trial design and conduct difficult.

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Background: Clinical manifestations of classic Fabry disease (α-galactosidase A deficiency) usually occur in childhood, while complications involving major organs typically develop in adulthood. Outcomes of Fabry-specific treatment among young patients have not been extensively reported. Our aim was to analyze clinical outcomes among patients aged 5-30 years at initiation of treatment with agalsidase beta using data from the Fabry Registry (NCT00196742, sponsor: Sanofi).

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Article Synopsis
  • The Primary Mitochondrial Myopathy Symptom Assessment (PMMSA) is a 10-item tool designed to evaluate the severity of symptoms in patients with mitochondrial disease, assessing its psychometric properties based on data from a clinical trial.
  • Participants in the trial, mostly women with an average age of 45, filled out the PMMSA daily for about 14 weeks while testing elamipretide in a randomized, placebo-controlled study.
  • Results showed that while the PMMSA items did not form a single construct, four related to tiredness were grouped as a "general fatigue" score, which proved to be stable and correlated well with other health measures, with meaningful reductions being linked to symptom improvement.
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Purpose: Nonmuscle myosin II complexes are master regulators of actin dynamics that play essential roles during embryogenesis with vertebrates possessing 3 nonmuscle myosin II heavy chain genes, MYH9, MYH10, and MYH14. As opposed to MYH9 and MYH14, no recognizable disorder has been associated with MYH10. We sought to define the clinical characteristics and molecular mechanism of a novel autosomal dominant disorder related to MYH10.

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  • Primary mitochondrial diseases (PMD) are complex genetic disorders that present significant challenges in therapeutic development, including issues with clinical trial design and a lack of effective biomarkers.
  • The initiative focuses on creating "FAIR" data standards to enhance data sharing and collaboration among various stakeholders in the PMD research community.
  • A unified system for structured data sharing aims to streamline drug development and improve the understanding of PMD's natural history, while addressing challenges related to data privacy and differing international policies.
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The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are a group of rare genetic disorders characterized by progressive multisystem disease. We sought to identify the perceptions and support needs of siblings, who often have lifelong relationships and assume important roles for their brothers and sisters with MPS. We designed an online survey to ask siblings about their experiences through a series of Likert statements and open-ended questions.

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In the field of mitochondrial medicine, correlation of clinical phenotype with mutation heteroplasmy remains an outstanding question with few, if any, clear thresholds corresponding to a given phenotype. The m.8344A>G mutation is most commonly associated with myoclonus epilepsy and ragged red fiber syndrome (MERRF) at varying levels of heteroplasmy.

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Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variant pathogenicity interpretation has special considerations given unique features of the mtDNA genome, including maternal inheritance, variant heteroplasmy, threshold effect, absence of splicing, and contextual effects of haplogroups. Currently, there are insufficient standardized criteria for mtDNA variant assessment, which leads to inconsistencies in clinical variant pathogenicity reporting. An international working group of mtDNA experts was assembled within the Mitochondrial Disease Sequence Data Resource Consortium and obtained Expert Panel status from ClinGen.

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Many mitochondrial diseases are caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Patients' cells contain a mixture of mutant and nonmutant mtDNA (a phenomenon called heteroplasmy). The proportion of mutant mtDNA varies across patients and among tissues within a patient.

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Article Synopsis
  • The North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortium (NAMDC) is a network of 17 clinical centers focused on advancing research and treatment for mitochondrial diseases, supported by the National Institutes of Health through the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network.
  • NAMDC operates a Clinical Registry and a biorepository that gathers essential clinical data, biosamples, and natural history information about mitochondrial diseases while ensuring data security and compliance with regulations.
  • To promote research and development in mitochondrial medicine, NAMDC offers pilot grants for innovative projects and has a Fellowship Program to train aspiring researchers in the field.
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Objective: To describe clinical, biochemical, and genetic features of participants with mitochondrial diseases (MtDs) enrolled in the North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortium (NAMDC) Registry.

Methods: This cross-sectional, multicenter, retrospective database analysis evaluates the phenotypic and molecular characteristics of participants enrolled in the NAMDC Registry from September 2011 to December 2018. The NAMDC is a network of 17 centers with expertise in MtDs and includes both adult and pediatric specialists.

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