Myology research highlights
RSS feedInitial results of the “Adult polyglucosan disease” register
The Columbia University team publishes data collected since 2014 in the Columbia University APBD Registry (CAP ) and filled in by patients with adult polyglucosan disease: out of 126 respondents, 96 met the inclusion criteria: being 18 years of age or older and presenting with a progressive triad of peripheral neuropathy, spasticity and neurologic bladder … [Read more]
Vamorolone confirms its efficacy over one year in DMD without limiting growth
In 2022 , the first results of a 6-month double-blind trial of vamorolone (Agamree®) versus placebo or prednisone were published. This synthetic steroid has been approved in Europe since December 2023 for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy from the age of 4. New data from this trial, at one year, have just been published. … [Read more]
DMD: Commercial go-ahead for givinostat (Duvyzat™) in the USA
Givinostat, a drug developed by Italfarmaco for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies, is a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. On 21 March 2024, it was granted marketing authorisation in the United States by the FDA on the basis of the results of the EPIDYS phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, which took place in France. The EPIDYS … [Read more]
A probable founder effect in a hereditary neuropathy with cyclic vomiting
French clinicians and biologists report the observations of three families of North African origin who were diagnosed with deficiency of SMVT, a sodium-dependent multi-vitamin transporter: the clinical picture was one of severe axon-demyelinating neuropathy, appearing early (in childhood) and often complicated by optic atrophy, and recurrent episodes of incoercible vomiting, suggesting dysautonomia, High-throughput sequencing in … [Read more]
Prenatal diagnosis is sometimes complicated by the results of high-throughput sequencing.
A team from Dijon reports on a complex situation involving a consanguineous couple whose foetus carried adevelopmental anomaly known as cystic hygroma: a whole exome trio (WES-Trio) study was carried out prenatally to determine the origin, a homozygous truncating variant of the ASCC1 gene was identified, known to give a very rare form of spinal … [Read more]
An ultra-rare myopathy, but important to recognise because it can be treated
Clinicians in London report the observation of a 27-year-old patient diagnosed with arginine-glycine amidino-transferase (AGAT) deficiency myopathy: the clinical picture combined myopathy and cognitive difficulties dating back to childhood, in a patient with no family history but with known parental consanguinity; She was short in stature and also had ptosis and a discrete facial dysmorphia, … [Read more]
Failure of the ryanodine receptor causes myocardial senescence and fibrosis in DMD
Researchers in the south of France have studied the determinants of the degeneration and fibrosis observed in cardiomyopathy linked to Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in animals and humans: human pluripotent stem cells from DMD patients were first transformed into cardiomyocytes, myocardial tissue from DMD model dogs (GRMD) was also analysed, dysfunction of the type 2 … [Read more]
A new method for assessing treatment efficacy in Pompe disease
To assess the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy, Dutch researchers and clinicians are proposing a new methodology: the clinical and paraclinical data of 102 patients with Pompe’s disease who had been receiving enzyme replacement therapy for a year were retrospectively analysed, an index, MCID (for minimal clinically important difference), described as the minimal difference producing … [Read more]
Neonatal screening for Pompe disease: a compilation of all existing data
Two American researchers have compiled data from the literature on newborn screening for Pompe disease worldwide: 29 programmes are in place and operational in eight different countries, including the United States and Taiwan, more than 11.6 million newborns have been screened to date, the incidence is 1 case in 18,711 births (i.e. 5.3 cases per … [Read more]
TOPAZ trial of apitegromab in SMA
The TOPAZ trial tested the safety, tolerability and efficacy of the anti-myostatin apitegromab in SMA over one year in the United States and Europe (but not in France). The 58 participants, aged between 2 and 21 years, received apitegromab intravenously every 4 weeks for one year. The first cohort (open-label) included 23 participants with type … [Read more]
