Title | 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase deficiency causes a neurometabolic disorder associated with microcephaly, epilepsy, and cerebral hypomyelination. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2018 |
Authors | Rodan, LH, Qi, W, Ducker, GS, Demirbas, D, Laine, R, Yang, E, Walker, MA, Eichler, F, Rabinowitz, JD, Anselm, I, Berry, GT |
Corporate Authors | Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) |
Journal | Mol Genet Metab |
Volume | 125 |
Issue | 1-2 |
Pagination | 118-126 |
Date Published | 2018 09 |
ISSN | 1096-7206 |
Keywords | Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic, Antiporters, Brain, Carbon-Nitrogen Ligases, Epilepsy, Female, Folate Receptor 1, Hereditary Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases, Humans, Male, Metabolic Diseases, Microcephaly, Mitochondrial Diseases, Nervous System Malformations, Neuroaxonal Dystrophies, Psychomotor Disorders, Tetrahydrofolates |
Abstract | Folate metabolism in the brain is critically important and serves a number of vital roles in nucleotide synthesis, single carbon metabolism/methylation, amino acid metabolism, and mitochondrial translation. Genetic defects in almost every enzyme of folate metabolism have been reported to date, and most have neurological sequelae. We report 2 patients presenting with a neurometabolic disorder associated with biallelic variants in the MTHFS gene, encoding 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase. Both patients presented with microcephaly, short stature, severe global developmental delay, progressive spasticity, epilepsy, and cerebral hypomyelination. Baseline CSF 5-methyltetrahydrolate (5-MTHF) levels were in the low-normal range. The first patient was treated with folinic acid, which resulted in worsening cerebral folate deficiency. Treatment in this patient with a combination of oral L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate and intramuscular methylcobalamin was able to increase CSF 5-MTHF levels, was well tolerated over a 4 month period, and resulted in subjective mild improvements in functioning. Measurement of MTHFS enzyme activity in fibroblasts confirmed reduced activity. The direct substrate of the MTHFS reaction, 5-formyl-THF, was elevated 30-fold in patient fibroblasts compared to control, supporting the hypothesis that the pathophysiology of this disorder is a manifestation of toxicity from this metabolite. |
DOI | 10.1016/j.ymgme.2018.06.006 |
Alternate Journal | Mol. Genet. Metab. |
PubMed ID | 30031689 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC6557438 |
Grant List | U01 HG007690 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States U01 HG007943 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States DP1 DK113643 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States P30 CA072720 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States |