Heterogeneity of liver disorder in type B Niemann-Pick disease.

Patients with type B Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) are known to be complicated with varying degrees of prognosis-determining liver dysfunction. To see heterogeneity of the dysfunction histologically, we performed liver biopsies on three NPD patients from three different families, who were diagnosed by enzyme assay of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) and analysis of the ASM gene. In a severe case, of a female patient in her childhood, the liver showed definite fibrosis despite her age. In contrast, in a very mild case, of an adult male patient, the liver showed little fibrosis, though the ballooning of hepatocytes and infiltration of foamy histiocytes were observed in the tissue. Three homo-allelic mutations (S436R, A599T, and S231P) were identified in the patients. Thus, various hepatic phenotypes in type B NPD were shown to be caused by the heterogeneity of liver lesions originating from different ASM gene mutations.