Publications by authors named "Mirjam Langeveld"

A 62-year-old recreational cyclist presented with transient loss of consciousness and common electrocardiographic findings. Despite absence of left ventricular hypertrophy, multidisciplinary evaluation and a positive family history led to the diagnosis of non-classical Fabry disease. This case emphasizes the added value of multidisciplinary analysis of nonspecific findings to diagnose a rare disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study explores the preferences and risk tolerance regarding gene therapy among patients with different lysosomal storage disorders, including Gaucher disease, Fabry disease, and mucopolysaccharidosis type III A/B.
  • Using a survey designed based on previous focus group findings, researchers assessed how individuals valued various aspects of gene therapy against their current treatment options.
  • Results indicated that patients with more severe disease tended to have higher risk tolerance for gene therapy, with Gaucher disease respondents generally preferring standard care, while those with mucopolysaccharidosis type III were more open to the risks associated with gene therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) deficiency is a rare genetic disorder that causes the buildup of toxic bile acids and has been minimally studied, with fewer than 20 documented cases.
  • A recent study involving 12 patients revealed that symptoms like retinitis pigmentosa and neurological issues typically develop in adults after a significant delay in diagnosis, with a median age of 56 years at the time of identification.
  • The condition presents primarily as a slowly progressive neurological disease, and MRI scans can help identify characteristic brain abnormalities, highlighting the need for better recognition and awareness of AMACR deficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with inherited disorders of the long-chain fatty acid oxidation (lcFAO) machinery present with a heterogeneous profile of disease manifestations and aggravation of symptoms is often triggered by inflammatory activation. Monocytes and macrophages are innate immune cells that play a major role in the onset and resolution of inflammation. These cells undergo metabolic rewiring upon activation including the regulation of the FAO rate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Fabry disease (FD) results from mutations in a specific gene that lead to a deficiency in the enzyme α-galactosidase A, causing harmful substrate accumulation, with symptoms varying widely between male and female patients.
  • Although FD therapies like enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and chaperone therapy have been available for around 20 years, there is still limited evidence supporting their long-term effectiveness due to diverse patient populations and inconsistencies in study designs.
  • To improve future research on FD treatments, the review suggests better patient matching, international collaboration, and standardized approaches for evaluating treatment effectiveness, including clear recommendations for study outcomes and duration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Progress in genetic diagnosis and orphan drug legislation has led to new therapies for rare neurogenetic diseases (RNDs), but challenges remain in academia, regulation, and finances.
  • The study aims to create a practical framework for developing patient registries that address these challenges and enhance outcomes in care, research, and drug development for RNDs.
  • A comprehensive approach combining literature review, interviews with existing registries, and feedback from various stakeholders was used to ensure the framework meets diverse needs and emphasizes key principles like accessible, independent, and trustworthy data governance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Riboflavin transporter deficiency (RTD) is a genetic disorder of reduced riboflavin (vitamin B2) uptake that causes progressive, multifocal neurological dysfunction. Most patients present in early childhood; if patients present later in life, symptoms usually develop more gradually. We report three previously healthy young adults, who developed rapidly progressive neurological symptoms after decreasing dietary intake of meat and dairy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder resulting from arylsulfatase A enzyme deficiency, leading to toxic sulfatide accumulation. As a result affected individuals exhibit progressive neurodegeneration. Treatments such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and gene therapy are effective when administered pre-symptomatically.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An increasing number of women with urea cycle disorders (UCDs) are reaching child-bearing age and becoming pregnant. Improved diagnostics and increased awareness of inherited metabolic diseases has also led to more previously undetected women being diagnosed with a UCD during or shortly after pregnancy. Pregnancy increases the risk of acute metabolic decompensation with hyperammonemia-which can occur in any trimester, and/or the postpartum period, and may lead to encephalopathy, psychosis, coma, and even death, if not diagnosed promptly and treated appropriately.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/objectives: The timely diagnosis of inherited metabolic disorders (IMD) is essential for initiating treatment, prognostication and genetic testing of relatives. Recognition of IMD in adults is difficult, because phenotypes are different from those in children and influenced by symptoms from acquired conditions. This systematic literature review aims to answer the following questions: (1) What is the diagnostic yield of exome/genome sequencing (ES/GS) for IMD in adults with unsolved phenotypes? (2) What characteristics do adult patients diagnosed with IMD through ES/GS have?

Methods: A systematic search was conducted using the following search terms (simplified): "Whole exome sequencing (WES)," "Whole genome sequencing (WGS)," "IMD," "diagnostics" and the 1,450 known metabolic genes derived from ICIMD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Fabry disease is a very heterogeneous X-linked lysosomal storage disease. Disease manifestations in the kidneys, heart, and brain vary greatly, even between patients of the same sex and with the same disease classification (classical or nonclassical). A biomarker with a strong association with the development of disease manifestations is needed to determine the need for Fabry-specific treatment and appropriate frequency of follow-up because clinical manifestations of the disorder may take decennia to develop.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Newborn screening (NBS) programmes identify a wide range of disease phenotypes, which raises the question whether early identification and treatment is beneficial for all. This study aims to answer this question for primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) taking into account that NBS for PCD identifies newborns with PCD and also until then undiagnosed mothers.

Methods: We investigated clinical, genetic (variants in gene) and functional (carnitine transport activity in fibroblasts) characteristics of all referred individuals through NBS (newborns and mothers) and clinically diagnosed patients with PCD (not through NBS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Primary carnitine deficiency is an inborn error of metabolism, which can lead to life-threating complications early in life. Low carnitine levels can be detected by newborn bloodspot screening (NBS). However, NBS can also identify, mostly asymptomatic, mothers with primary carnitine deficiency.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked, lysosomal storage disorder leading to severe cardiomyopathy in a significant proportion of patients. To identify ECG markers that reflect early cardiac involvement and disease progression, we conducted a long term retrospective study in a large cohort of FD patients. A total of 1995 ECGs from 133 patients with classical FD (64% females, 80% treated with enzyme replacement therapy), spanning 20 years of follow-up, were compared to ECGs from 3893 apparently healthy individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Several new treatment modalities are being developed for lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), including gene therapy. As the currently available treatment options and their influence on disease progression differ greatly within the spectrum of LSDs, willingness to undergo gene therapy might vary among patients with LSDs and/or their representatives. The width of the LSD spectrum is illustrated by the differences between type 1 Gaucher disease, Fabry disease and Mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An increasing number of women of reproductive age follow vegan diets. Because vegan diets are deficient in a number of essential nutrients, guidelines address the necessity of supplementations such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12. However, the risk of riboflavin (vitamin B2) deficiency is not properly addressed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recent studies have reported the potential for the therapeutic use of ketones in the form of ketone salts (KSs) in pediatric patients with fatty acid oxidation disorders (FAODs). We report a case of ketone salt administration in an adult patient with mitochondrial trifunctional protein deficiency (MTPD), an ultra-rare inborn error of the fatty acid metabolism. This patient was treated with oral KSs during an episode of sepsis of unknown origin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Trio ES, which involves analyzing DNA from both parents and the child, is preferred as it helps reduce complex variant interpretations by providing clear information about inheritance.
  • * Ongoing advancements in genetic analysis techniques and better collaboration between clinicians and geneticists are essential to overcoming challenges in ES, enhancing diagnosis, and paving the way for personalized treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A broad spectrum of signs and symptoms has been attributed to primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) since its first description in 1973. Advances in diagnostic procedures have improved diagnostic accuracy and the introduction of PCD in newborn screening (NBS) programs has led to the identification of an increasing number of PCD patients, including mothers of screened newborns, who may show a different phenotype compared to clinically diagnosed patients. To elucidate the spectrum of signs and symptoms in PCD patients, we performed a structured literature review.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neonatal bloodspot screening (NBS) aims to detect treatable disorders in newborns. The number of conditions included in the screening is expanding through technological and therapeutic developments, which can result in health gain for more newborns. NBS expansion, however, also poses healthcare, ethical and societal challenges.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study describes the influence of sex and disease phenotype on the occurrence of cardiac events in Fabry disease (FD).

Methods: Cardiac events from birth to last visit (median age 50 years) were recorded for 213 patients with FD. Patients were categorised as follows : men with classical FD (n=57), men with non-classical FD (n=26), women with classical FD (n=98) and women with non-classical FD (n=32), based on the presence of classical FD symptoms, family history (men and women), biomarkers and residual enzyme activity (men).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF