Favorable outcomes following early onset oral miglustat in early infantile Niemann Pick Type C

Abstract

Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC) is a rare autosomal recessive neurovisceral lysosomal disorder. Perinatal and early infantile onset NPC are the most severe types of the disease. Early infantile type is characterized by a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative course, which entails significant morbidity and usually results in death within 5 years. Miglustat, an iminosugar that selectively inhibits the glycosylceramide synthase enzyme, is known to stabilize or delay neurological progression in individuals with NPC, but its impact on affected infants is yet to be elucidated. We present two siblings with early infantile NPC due to the previously reported devastating homozygous mutation c.2279_2281delTCT in NPC1. Their considerably discrepant neurological disease courses were dependent on the timing of initiation of miglustat treatment. The outcomes support the significant role of early treatment with miglustat in the disease course of early infantile NPC and suggest that therapy should be considered even before the occurrence of neurological involvement. Moreover, this report emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis, in light of the availability of a potential disease-modifying medication.

Keywords: Lysosomal storage disease; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; Miglustat; NPC, Niemann-Pick disease Type C; NPC1 gene; Niemann-Pick disease Type C.