Publications by authors named "Marıa Mercedes Villanueva"

Introduction: Late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), is a neurodegenerative autosomal recessive disease caused by gene variants with a spectrum of classic and atypical phenotypes. The aim of treatment is to slow functional decline as early as possible in an attempt to improve quality of life and survival. This study describes the clinical characteristics as well as the response to treatment with cerliponase alfa.

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Article Synopsis
  • ALG13 is crucial for synthesizing a specific molecule necessary for glycosylation, and mutations in this gene cause a rare form of epilepsy called EIEE36, also classified as ALG13-CDG.
  • Despite being a glycosylation disorder, cases of ALG13-CDG do not exhibit the expected glycosylation defects typically found in other disorders.
  • A study identified 29 new cases affected by ALG13 mutations, revealing a high prevalence of West syndrome, with patients responding well to certain treatments like adrenocorticotropic hormone and a ketogenic diet for managing epilepsy.
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Polyglutamine expansions in the transcriptional co-repressor Atrophin-1, encoded by ATN1, cause the neurodegenerative condition dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) via a proposed novel toxic gain of function. We present detailed phenotypic information on eight unrelated individuals who have de novo missense and insertion variants within a conserved 16-amino-acid "HX repeat" motif of ATN1. Each of the affected individuals has severe cognitive impairment and hypotonia, a recognizable facial gestalt, and variable congenital anomalies.

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Background: Microcephaly with or without chorioretinopathy, lymphedema, or mental retardation syndrome (MCLMR) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder with variable expressivity. It is characterized by mild-to-severe microcephaly, often associated with intellectual disability, ocular defects and lymphedema. It can be sporadic or inherited.

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The purpose of this review is to describe neurological phenotypes associated with lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), focusing on features arising from primary neuronal involvement. Clinical presentation, progression and genetic data, are discussed in detail in Part 2, the electronic material. Main features are summarized in Part 1.

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Unlabelled: X-linked adenoleukodystrophy is a genetic disease that affects the degradation of very long-chain fatty acids. In male patients, common pictures are the cerebral form (CALD), myeloneuropathy (AMN), and Addison-only.

Objective: To describe the clinical course of affected male patients from South Brazil between 1993 and 2007.

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