Diagnosis and treatment of sideroblastic anemias: from defective heme synthesis to abnormal RNA splicing

Abstract

The sideroblastic anemias are a heterogeneous group of inherited and acquired disorders characterized by the presence of ring sideroblasts in the bone marrow. X-linked sideroblastic anemia (XLSA) is caused by germline mutations in ALAS2. Hemizygous males have a hypochromic microcytic anemia, which is generally mild to moderate and is caused by defective heme synthesis and ineffective erythropoiesis. XLSA is a typical iron-loading anemia; although most patients are responsive to pyridoxine, treatment of iron overload is also important in the management of these patients. Autosomal recessive sideroblastic anemia attributable to mutations in SLC25A38, a member of the mitochondrial carrier family, is a severe disease: patients present in infancy with microcytic anemia, which soon becomes transfusion dependent. Conservative therapy includes regular red cell transfusion and iron chelation, whereas allogenic stem cell transplantation represents the only curative treatment. Refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS) is a myelodysplastic syndrome characterized mainly by anemia attributable to ineffective erythropoiesis. The clinical course of RARS is generally indolent, but there is a tendency to worsening of anemia over time, so that most patients become transfusion dependent in the long run. More than 90% of these patients carry somatic mutations in SF3B1, a gene encoding a core component of the RNA splicing machinery. These mutations cause misrecognition of 3' splice sites in downstream genes, resulting in truncated gene products and/or decreased expression attributable to nonsense-mediated RNA decay; this explains the multifactorial pathogenesis of RARS. Variants of RARS include refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia and ring sideroblasts, and RARS associated with marked thrombocytosis; these variants involve additional genetic lesions. Inhibitors of molecules of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily have been shown recently to target ineffective erythropoiesis and ameliorate anemia both in animal models of myelodysplastic syndrome and in RARS patients.