Current Development in Treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Abstract

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease that affects the alpha motor units and leads to muscular atrophy. The survival motor neuron-1 (SMN1) mutation, which is found on chromosome 5q13, is responsible for the majority of SMA cases. SMA spectrum range from type 0 to type 4, with various severity, longevity, and symptoms. Usually, the more early onset of the disease is, the more severe the symptoms are. Therefore, early detection is vital since treatment can be implemented as soon as possible. Currently, diagnosis methods include newborn screening, point mutation testing, diagnostic testing, and carrier testing, each with a different purpose. Although there has been no cure for SMA so far, some medications could help to relieve the symptoms and allow patients to achieve a higher quality of life, like Onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi, Nusinersen, and Evrysdi approved by the FDA. However, these treatments are costly. Additional support for SMA patients comes from physical therapy and careful daily management. Current research aims to identify more biomarkers of SMA to maximize therapeutic success and provide more precise therapeutic doses. This review provides a literature review of the pathogenesis, testing, and treatment of spinal muscular atrophy.