The m.3244G>A mutation in mtDNA is another cause of progressive external ophthalmoplegia

A case with short stature and proteinuria: atypical presentation of a family with m.3243A>G mutation

BACKGROUND

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) m.3243A>G mutation is one of the most common pathogenic mtDNA variants. The phenotypes associated with this mutation range from asymptomatic induviduals to well-defined clinical syndromes, or non-syndromic mitochondrial disorders. Variable clinical features in pediatric cases may cause difficulty in diagnosis. Kidney involvement in this mutation is uncommon and reported on a case-by-case basis. Here, we report on a patient with m.3243A>G mutation, who presented with short stature and proteinuria, and his family, who share the same genotype but exhibit different heteroplasmy levels in different tissues and variable phenotypes.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 15-year-old male patient was admitted to the pediatric endocrinology department with short stature. His examinations revealed nephrotic range proteinuria, hearing loss, impaired glucose tolerance, and Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome. From family history, it was learned that diabetes mellitus (DM) and progressive sensorineural hearing loss were common in this family. The patient's mother, who had chronic kidney disease, DM, and hearing loss, had died suddenly for an unknown reason. Considering the family history, a genetic analysis was performed for mitochondrial disease. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed a m.3243A>G mutation with 47% heteroplasmy in blood, 62% heteroplasmy in buccal cells, and 96% heteroplasmy in urothelial cells in our patient.

CONCLUSIONS

Short stature without any other complaint and renal involvement are rare findings in m.3243A>G mutation. In patients presenting with proteinuria, in the presence of conditions affecting many systems such as endocrine system pathologies, hearing loss, and cardiac pathologies, and in the presence of individuals with a similar family history of multiple organ involvement, mitochondrial diseases should be considered, and examined from this perspective. Our case illustrates the value of a detailed medical and family history.

Progressive external ophthalmoplegia

Progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO), characterized by ptosis and impaired eye movements, is a clinical syndrome with an expanding number of etiologically distinct subtypes. Advances in molecular genetics have revealed numerous pathogenic causes of PEO, originally heralded in 1988 by the detection of single large-scale deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in skeletal muscle of people with PEO and Kearns-Sayre syndrome. Since then, multiple point variants of mtDNA and nuclear genes have been identified to cause mitochondrial PEO and PEO-plus syndromes, including mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) and sensory ataxic neuropathy dysarthria ophthalmoplegia (SANDO). Intriguingly, many of those nuclear DNA pathogenic variants impair maintenance of the mitochondrial genome causing downstream mtDNA multiple deletions and depletion. In addition, numerous genetic causes of nonmitochondrial PEO have been identified.

Molecular and neurological features of MELAS syndrome in paediatric patients: A case series and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is one of the most well-known mitochondrial diseases, with most cases attributed to m.3243A>G. MELAS syndrome patients typically present in the first two decades of life with a broad, multi-systemic phenotype that predominantly features neurological manifestations--stroke-like episodes. However, marked phenotypic variability has been observed among paediatric patients, creating a clinical challenge and delaying diagnoses.

METHODS

A literature review of paediatric MELAS syndrome patients and a retrospective analysis in a UK tertiary paediatric neurology centre were performed.

RESULTS

Three children were included in this case series. All patients presented with seizures and had MRI changes not confined to a single vascular territory. Blood heteroplasmy varied considerably, and one patient required a muscle biopsy. Based on a literature review of 114 patients, the mean age of presentation is 8.1 years and seizures are the most prevalent manifestation of stroke-like episodes. Heteroplasmy is higher in a tissue other than blood in most cases.

CONCLUSION

The threshold for investigating MELAS syndrome in children with suspicious neurological symptoms should be low. If blood m.3243A>G analysis is negative, yet clinical suspicion remains high, invasive testing or further interrogation of the mitochondrial genome should be considered.

Genotypes of chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia in a large adult-onset cohort

Chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO) is a common presentation of mitochondrial disease. We performed a retrospective evaluation of the molecular genetic testing and genotype-phenotype correlations in a large cohort of adult-onset CPEO patients (N = 111). One hundred percent of patients tested had at least one mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion. Genetic testing of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins identified pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants likely to be associated with CPEO in 7.6% of patients. As expected, the nuclear gene most associated with DNA variation was POLG. A single likely pathogenic mitochondrial DNA variant (m.12278T>C) was identified in two unrelated patients. No significant differences were noted in the clinical phenotypes of patients with pathogenic or likely pathogenic nuclear variants in comparison to those with negative nuclear gene testing. Analysis of deletion size and heteroplasmy in muscle-derived mtDNA showed significant correlations with age of symptom onset but not disease severity (number of canonical CPEO features). Results suggest that smaller mtDNA deletions (p = 0.0127, r² = 0.1201) and higher heteroplasmy of single mtDNA deletions (p = 0.0112, r² = 0.2483) are associated with an earlier age of onset in CPEO patients.

Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia in the Absence of Ptosis

Classically defined as bilateral, symmetric, and progressive ophthalmoparesis with myopathic ptosis, chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO) rarely has been reported in the absence of ptosis. We describe 2 patients with CPEO and without ptosis who presented with binocular diplopia related to small-angle esodeviations, poor fusional amplitudes, and slow saccades. In both cases, hematological studies and neuroimaging ruled out alternative etiologies, whereas muscle biopsy showed findings of mitochondrial myopathy.

Extensive screening system using suspension array technology to detect mitochondrial DNA point mutations

We established an extensive and rapid system using suspension array to detect 61 representative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) heteroplasmic or homoplasmic point mutations (29 for Series A and 32 for Series B) in 22 genes: 1 each in MT-RNR1, -TV, -ND1, -TQ, -TW, -TC, and -TH genes; 2 each in MT-TN, -TG, -ND4, -TL2, -TE, and -CYB genes; 3 each in MT-ATP6, -ND3, and -ND5 genes; 4 each in MT-CO1 and -TK genes; 5 each in MT-TI, -TS1, and -ND6 genes; and 10 in the MT-TL1 gene. We carefully selected 5'-biotinylated primers and pooled primers for use in two sets of multiplex-PCR amplifications. To detect both mutant and wild-type mtDNA, even when polymorphisms were present near the target mutation sites, we designed specific oligonucleotide probes. By using the mtDNA point mutation detection system of Series A (29 mutations) and Series B (32 mutations), we screened a total of 3103 mutant sites in 107 DNA samples for Series A and 13,101 mutant sites in 397 DNA samples for Series B. We succeeded in determining 99.4% (Series A) and 99.6% (Series B) of the targeted mutant sites by use of the system. The 22 samples with the m.3243A>G heteroplasmic mutation revealed positive signals with both mutant- and wild-type-specific probes in this detection system with a detection limit of approximately 2%. This genetic screening platform is useful to reach a definitive diagnosis for mitochondrial diseases.