| Literature DB >> 34366366 |
Cristina Molera1, Tinatin Sarishvili2, Andrés Nascimento3, Irakli Rtskhiladze2, Gema Muñoz Bartolo4, Santiago Fernández Cebrián5, Justo Valverde Fernández6, Beatriz Muñoz Cabello7, Robert J Graham8, Weston Miller9, Bryan Sepulveda9, Binita M Kamath10, Hui Meng11, Michael W Lawlor11.
Abstract
X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM) is a rare, life-threatening congenital myopathy characterized by profound skeletal muscle weakness, respiratory distress, and motor dysfunction. However, pathology is not limited to muscle and can be associated with life-threatening hepatic peliosis. Hepatobiliary disease has been reported in up to 17% of XLMTM patients but has not been extensively characterized. We report on five XLMTM patients who experienced intrahepatic cholestasis in their disease natural history, illustrating the need to further investigate these manifestations. These patients shared presentations that included pruritus, hypertransaminemia, and hyperbilirubinemia with normal gamma-glutamyl transferase, following infection or vaccination. Three patients who had genetic testing showed no evidence of genetic mutations associated with familial cholestasis. In one patient, progression to cirrhotic, decompensated liver disease occurred. Further investigations into the molecular pathomechanism underpinning these clinical observations in XLMTM patients will be important for informing patient care.Entities:
Keywords: X-linked myotubular myopathy; hepatobiliary disease; intrahepatic cholestasis; liver abnormalities; myotubularin
Mesh:
Year: 2022 PMID: 34366366 PMCID: PMC8842755 DOI: 10.3233/JND-210712
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Neuromuscul Dis
Summary of clinical presentations
| Patient 1 | Patient 2 | Patient 3 | Patient 4 | Patient 5 | |
| MTM1 mutation | c.1262G > A, p.R421Q | c.1420C > T, p.R474* | 79 kb deletion (chrX:149761067-149840078, exons 3–14) | c.1644 + 1G > A | c.1088_1089del p.K363Sfs*14 |
| Age at initial presentation of cholestasis | 7.5 months | 8 months | 14 months | 16 months | 5 months |
| Laboratory values at initial presentation (BL) and/or maximum level (max) | |||||
| Maximum serum bile acids | 310.6 | 144.9 | 345.5 | 56.7 | 180.0 |
| 30×ULN | 18×ULN | 35×ULN | 6×ULN | 18×ULN | |
| Total bilirubin | BL and max: 5.6 mg/dL | BL: 11.9 mg/dL | BL and max: 2.8 mg/dL | BL and max: 4.0 mg/dL | BL: 2.7 mg/dL |
| Max (1 wk): 12.9 mg/dL | Max (21.5 wks): 15.3 mg/dL | ||||
| Direct bilirubin | BL and max: 4.2 mg/dL | BL and max: 11.2 mg/dL | BL and max: 2.1 mg/dL | BL and max: 3.9 mg/dL | BL: 1.5 mg/dL |
| Max (61 wks): 9.5 mg/dL | |||||
| Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) | Normal range | BL: normal range | BL: normal range | BL and max: 1.2×ULN | BL: 2×ULN |
| Max (18.4 wks): 28×ULN | Max (10 wks): 2×ULN | Max (21.5 wks): 26×ULN | |||
| Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) | BL and max: 1.3×ULN | BL: normal range | BL: 2×ULN | BL and max: 1.2×ULN | BL: 2×ULN |
| Max (18.4 wks): 39×ULN | Max (10 wks): 4×ULN | Max (21.5 wks): 24×ULN | |||
| Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) | Normal range | BL: 2×ULN Max (18.4 wks): 7×ULN | BL: 1.4×ULN Max (0.5 wk): 1.7×ULN | BL and max: 1.1×ULN | Normal range |
| Max (at symptom resolution): 1.2×ULN | |||||
| Alpha-1-antitrypsin | Normal range | Normal range | Normal range | Normal range | Normal range |
| Status | Resolution of cholestasis at age 10 months; death, age 12 months | Resolution of cholestasis | Resolution of cholestasis | Resolution of cholestasis | Liver failure due to fibrosis |
ULN: upper limit of normal; wk: week.
Fig. 1Time course of laboratory findings and clinical events in select patients. Summary of liver function tests and select events in the clinical courses starting with initial symptomatic presentation (denoted as Week 0) in (A) Patient 2, (B) Patient 3, and (C) Patient 5. Total and direct bilirubin levels are shown as mg/dl on the left vertical axis. ALT, AST, and GGT levels are shown as multiples of their respective ULN on the right vertical axis. ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: gamma-glutamyl transferase; INR: international normalized ratio; PT: prothrombin time; UDCA: ursodeoxycholic acid; ULN: upper limit of normal.
Fig. 2Liver histopathology in XLMTM. (A) H&E-stained liver tissue from Patient 5 in this series revealed findings consistent with severe intrahepatic cholestasis including canalicular bile plugs, accumulation of bile material within hepatocytes, giant cell transformation, portal field fibrosis and focal inflammation. Staining for bile salt export pump (BSEP) and multi-drug resistant protein 3 (MDR3) showed loss of canalicular expression of both, likely due to a loss of canalicular architecture from cirrhosis. (B) Evaluation of autopsy livers from XLMTM patients (available through the Congenital Muscle Disease Tissue Repository) illustrates variable histopathology in the livers of XLMTM patients. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and bile salt export protein (BSEP) staining of samples shows normal liver histopathology (left column), compared with one patient who showed intracanalicular bile plugs consistent with cholestasis (right column). (C) H&E-stained slides from an XLMTM patient’s liver at autopsy that displayed acute liver hemorrhage, presumably as a complication of hepatic peliosis. The high-magnification image (right) illustrates appropriate liver structure and no cholestatic changes in areas that are not involved in the hemorrhage. BSEP and MDR3 stains on this specimen were uninterpretable due to tissue quality.
Fig. 3Muscle histopathology in autopsy tissue from patients with liver disease. Skeletal muscle tissue taken at autopsy from patients in the Congenital Muscle Disease Tissue Repository who showed variable degrees of liver pathology. H&E staining (A-C) reveals similar pathology that is characteristic of XLMTM, including myofiber smallness and increased numbers of fibers with internal nucleation, in the absence of inflammation or active myofiber degeneration. NADH staining (D-F) shows a pattern of organelle mislocalization that is characteristic of XLMTM in humans, with central aggregation of mitochondria and sarcotubular elements surrounded by an area of absent staining in the subsarcolemmal region. The muscle pathology findings in these three cases are extremely similar, despite differential levels of liver disease in these patients. One patient (panels A, D) had no histological evidence of liver disease, one patient (panels B, E) showed intrahepatic cholestasis at autopsy, and one patient (panels C, F) showed hepatic hemorrhage due to presumed hepatic peliosis.