Pediatric-onset Diseases Research Articles

X-Linked Hypophosphatemia Transition and Team Management

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is the most common form of inherited disorders that are characterized by renal phosphate wasting, but it is a rare chronic disease. XLH presents in multisystemic organs, not only in childhood, but also in adulthood. Multidisciplinary team management is necessary for the care of patients with XLH. Although XLH has often been perceived as a childhood disease, recent studies have demonstrated that it is a long-term and progressive disease throughout adulthood. In the past 20 years, the importance of the transition from pediatric care to adult care for patient outcomes in adulthood in many pediatric onset diseases has been increasingly recognized. This review describes transitional care and team management for patients with XLH.

Epigenetic regulation of pediatric and neonatal immune responses.

Epigenetic regulation of transcription is a collective term that refers to mechanisms known to regulate gene transcription without changing the underlying DNA sequence. These mechanisms include DNA methylation and histone tail modifications which influence chromatin accessibility, and microRNAs that act through post-transcriptional gene silencing. Epigenetics is known to regulate a variety of biological processes, and the role of epigtenetics in immunity and immune-mediated diseases is becoming increasingly recognized. While DNA methylation is the most widely studied, each of these systems play an important role in the development and maintenance of appropriate immune responses. There is clear evidence that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to developmental stage-specific immune responses in a cell-specific manner. There is also mounting evidence that prenatal exposures alter epigenetic profiles and subsequent immune function in exposed offspring. Early life exposures that are associated with poor long-term health outcomes also appear to impact immune specific epigenetic patterning. Finally, each of these epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the pathogenesis of a wide variety of diseases that manifest during childhood. This review will discuss each of these areas in detail. IMPACT: Epigenetics, including DNA methylation, histone tail modifications, and microRNA expression, dictate immune cell phenotypes. Epigenetics influence immune development and subsequent immune health. Prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal exposures alter immune cell epigenetic profiles and subsequent immune function. Numerous pediatric-onset diseases have an epigenetic component. Several successful strategies for childhood diseases target epigenetic mechanisms.

Using four decades of FDA orphan drug designations to describe trends in rare disease drug development: substantial growth seen in development of drugs for rare oncologic, neurologic, and pediatric-onset diseases

BackgroundOrphan drug designations are a useful proxy to investigate trends in rare disease drug development. Drug developers must receive a designation before they are eligible for the economic incentives of the Orphan Drug Act in the United States. We created a database of all orphan drugs designated between 1983 and 2019 that included numerous drug characteristics, including therapeutic area. In addition, we constructed a “broad disease” categorization of designations as an alternative to therapeutic area, based on disease etiology and age of onset rather than organ system. By looking at the pattern of orphan drug designations over the past four decades, this analysis studied the impact of the evolving rare disease drug development landscape and considers the future of rare disease therapies over the coming decades.ResultsBetween 1983 and 2019, a total of 5099 drugs and biologics received orphan drug designation. Designations more than doubled between the 1980s and 1990s, almost doubled between the 1990s and 2000s, and almost tripled in number between the 2000s and 2010s. The top three therapeutic areas represented in the orphan drug designations were: oncology (1910, 37%), neurology (674, 13%), and infectious diseases (436, 9%). The broad disease categorization found that the proportion of designations for pediatric-onset diseases has increased in the most recent decade to 27%.ConclusionsAnalysis of the last four decades of orphan drug designation indicates seismic shifts have occurred in the rare disease drug development space. The number of designations granted more than quadrupled between the 1990s and 2010s. While these substantial increases led to growth in the absolute number of designations within all therapeutic areas (bar one) and broad disease categories, the relative proportions have seen considerable change over time. In the most recent decade, there have been notable increases in the proportion of drugs in oncology, pediatric-onset diseases, and neurologic disorders. The dramatic rise in overall orphan designations over the past four decades suggests we may continue to see an upward trajectory in designations leading to an increased number of approvals for drugs and biologics designed specifically for diagnosing, preventing, and treating rare diseases in the coming decades.

P0050PRE-IMPLANTATION GENETIC TESTING FOR MONOGENIC KIDNEY DISEASE: TWENTY-FIVE YEAR EXPERIENCE IN THE NETHERLANDS

Abstract Background and Aims Due to the fast-paced developments in human genetics, a genetic cause can now be identified for an increasing number of pediatric and adult-onset kidney diseases. A monogenic kidney disease (MKD) can impact prognostication and therapy decisions. It also provides patients with options regarding family planning such as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), a reproductive technology that helps prospective parents prevent passing on a disease-causing mutation to their offspring. There are limited reports on PGT for MKD and most are focused on severe pediatric-onset diseases. The Dutch system of insurance reimbursement and nationwide regulation is unique, and it has allowed the Netherlands to be one of a handful of countries where couples have the option to choose PGT for MKD, including adult-onset forms of kidney disease. Here we provide the 25-year Dutch experience with PGT for MKD. Method We performed a retrospective cohort study of all couples counselled on PGT for MKD in the Maastricht University Medical Center+, the expert centre where all Dutch single cell genetic testing on embryos is performed, from January 1995 until June 2019. Results 99 couples were counseled for PGT, of which currently 15% is waiting for the genetic test to be validated. In the early years of PGT for MKD, referrals were incidental and only for couples at risk for offspring with paediatric-onset disease. From 2009 onwards, the number of referrals has steadily increased as has the number of couples referred for adult-onset MKD. Overall, the most frequent indications for referral for PGT were ADPKD (37%), X-linked Alport syndrome (25%) and ARPKD (9%). After counselling, 36% of n=99 couples started PGT treatment. In total n=80 cycles with oocyte retrieval were performed (median 2 cycles [range 1-4]). These cycles led to a median of n=10 embryos (range 2-31) suitable for biopsy and a median of n=3 embryos (range 1-14) being genetically unaffected. Seventy-five percent (n=) of couples achieved at least one live birth. Of n=99, 48% did not proceed with PGT, for various personal and technical reasons. Major reasons for opting out of PGT were that prospective parents did not want to wait for the lengthy PGT procedure (9%) or had a wish for natural conception with prenatal genetic testing (11%). Live birth rate was 40% (n=19) in the non-PGT group, with notably a similar duration to a live birth as the PGT group (2 years, range 0-5 years). Conclusion We provide the largest overview to date of the indications, uptake and results of PGT for MKD. Referrals for PGT, including adult-onset disease, have increased steadily over the past decade. PGT has favorable outcomes, with 75% of couples having at least one live birth, though this is likely due to our small sample size. Genetic and reproductive counseling, including information on PGT, should be provided to all patients and prospective parents from families with MKD to enable informed decision making.