B3GALT6-linkeropathy: Three illustrative patients spanning the disease spectrum

Abstract

The linkeropathies are a group of rare disorders, characterized by overlapping clinical features involving the skeletal and connective tissues. Each “linker” gene encodes an enzyme responsible for the addition of glycosaminoglycan chains to proteoglycans via a common tertrasaccharine linker region. The original descriptions of the autosomal recessive B3GALT6-related disorder showed that the associated clinical features are pleiotropic, spanning the skeletal dysplasia (Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia with joint laxity) (SEMD-JL1) and connective tissue disorder (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) (EDS spondylodysplastic Type 2) spectrum. Here, we describe three patients with biallelic B3GALT6 variants: each had different clinical presentations, and the two older patients initially received alternative clinical diagnoses (Larsen syndrome and Osteogenesis imperfecta, respectively). We describe the clinico-radiological features of these patients to highlight the spectrum of disease associated with the B3GALT6-linkeropathy.