Familial syndrome of diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and deafness (didmoad) in childhood

Novel mutations and the ophthalmologic characters in Chinese patients with Wolfram Syndrome

BACKGROUND

Wolfram Syndrome (WFS) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease which has a wide spectrum of manifestations including diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy and deafness. WFS1 and CISD2 are two main causing genes of WFS. The aim of this study was to illustrate the ophthalmologic manifestations and determine the genotype of Chinese WFS patients.

RESULTS

Completed ophthalmic examinations and family investigations were performed on 4 clinically diagnosed WFS patients from 4 unrelated families. Genetic testing was done by the next generation sequencing of candidate genes. One patient carried a homozygous mutation (c.272_273del) in CISD2, two patients carried compound heterozygous mutations (c.1618 T > G + c.2020G > A and c.1048 T > A + c.2020G > A) in WFS1, and one patient carried a heterozygous mutation (c.937C > T) in WFS1. Three of them were novel mutations.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicated WFS in Chinese is a neurodegenerative disease with both wide spectrum of clinical features and genetic heterogeneity. We found three novel mutations in WFS patients, and to our best knowledge, this is the first report of Chinese WFS patient with mutation in CISD2.

Identification of unsuspected Wolfram syndrome cases through clinical assessment and WFS1 gene screening in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients

OBJECTIVE

Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a severe autosomal recessive pleiotropic disease primarily characterized by the association of juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy. Earlier reports have shown that a proportion of WS cases may remain unrecognized due to misdiagnosis as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The objectives of this work were to estimate the prevalence of patients fulfilling clinical criteria for WS in a cohort of subjects diagnosed as T1DM and to identify causal WFS1 gene mutations in those individuals meeting clinical criteria for the disease.

METHODS

A cohort of 131 unrelated Mexican T1DM patients was collected, including 77 females and 54 males. Additional clinical anomalies suggesting WS were identified through review of medical files, detailed physical examination and/or specialized tests. WFS1 gene analysis was performed using exon-by-exon PCR amplification and direct Sanger sequencing on genomic DNA from patients reaching WS clinical criteria.

RESULTS

Clinical criteria for a WS diagnosis were reached in 6 probands, corresponding to a 4.58% frequency of the disease. WFS1 mutations were identified in 4 out of 5 (80%) individuals fulfilling WS clinical criteria, including two homozygous, one compound heterozygous, and one patient with a single allele mutation. No WFS1 mutations were identified in the remaining subject.

CONCLUSIONS

In our cohort, approximately 6% of cases diagnosed as T1DM were in fact patients with Wolfram syndrome. WFS1 mutations were identified in 4 out of 5 individuals (80%) fulfilling clinical criteria for WS. Clinical and genetic analyses of large cohorts of T1DM patients from different ethnic origins would help to better estimate the occurrence of WS and will lead to a better management of such patients.

Genotypic classification of patients with Wolfram syndrome: insights into the natural history of the disease and correlation with phenotype

PURPOSE

Wolfram syndrome is a degenerative, recessive rare disease with an onset in childhood. It is caused by mutations in WFS1 or CISD2 genes. More than 200 different variations in WFS1 have been described in patients with Wolfram syndrome, which complicates the establishment of clear genotype-phenotype correlation. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of WFS1 mutations and update the natural history of the disease.

METHODS

This study analyzed clinical and genetic data of 412 patients with Wolfram syndrome published in the last 15 years.

RESULTS

(i) 15% of published patients do not fulfill the current -inclusion criterion; (ii) genotypic prevalence differences may exist among countries; (iii) diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy might not be the first two clinical features in some patients; (iv) mutations are nonuniformly distributed in WFS1; (v) age at onset of diabetes mellitus, hearing defects, and diabetes insipidus may depend on the patient's genotypic class; and (vi) disease progression rate might depend on genotypic class.

CONCLUSION

New genotype-phenotype correlations were established, disease progression rate for the general population and for the genotypic classes has been calculated, and new diagnostic criteria have been proposed. The conclusions raised could be important for patient management and counseling as well as for the development of treatments for Wolfram syndrome.

Psychiatric findings in Wolfram syndrome homozygotes

Diabetes mellitus and bilateral optic atrophy are the defining characteristics of the autosomal recessive Wolfram syndrome. Diabetes insipidus, neurogenic bladder, deafness, and other neurological manifestations are frequent. A review was made of the medical records of 68 Wolfram syndrome patients, aged between 8 and 43 years, identified by casefinding throughout the USA. 41 of the patients (60%) had episodes of severe depression, psychosis, or organic brain syndrome, as well as impulsive verbal and physical aggression. These symptoms were very severe in 17 patients (25%), of whom 12 required admission to a psychiatric hospital and 11 attempted suicide. We conclude that the Wolfram syndrome gene predisposes homozygotes to psychiatric illness.

Incomplete Wolfram syndrome: clinical and electrophysiologic study of two familial cases

Wolfram, or DIDMOAD, syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy and deafness. We studied a family in which only diabetes mellitus and primary optic atrophy were present in three female siblings. Two of these patients, fraternal twins, were subjected to a complete electrophysiologic examination. The possibility of an incomplete clinical expression of Wolfram syndrome, hypotheses of its genetic transmission, and diagnostic problems are discussed.

Dominant optic atrophy, deafness, ptosis, ophthalmoplegia, dystaxia, and myopathy. A new syndrome

Twenty-three members of a 96-member family exhibited an autosomal dominant disorder which has not previously been described. This disorder involves progressive optic atrophy, abnormal electroretinography without retinal pigment changes, and progressive sensorineural hearing loss usually evident in the first or second decade of life. In midlife, ptosis, ophthalmoplegia, dystaxia, and a nonspecific myopathy occur.