Jahnová, Helena

Abstract Background Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) is an autosomal recessive rare disease characterised by progressive neurovisceral manifestations. The collection of on-going large-scale NPC clinical data may generate better understandings of the natural history of the disease. Here we report NPC patient data from the International Niemann-Pick Disease Registry (INPDR). Method The INPDR is a web-based, patient-led independent registry for the collection of prospective and retrospective clinical data from Niemann-Pick Disease patients. Baseline data from NPC patients enrolled into the INPDR from September 2014 to December 2019 was extracted to analyse the demographic, genetic and clinical features. Results A total of 203 NPC patients from six European countries were included in this study. The mean age (SD) at diagnosis was 11.2 years (14.2). Among enrolled patients, 168 had known neurological manifestations; 43 (24.2%) had early-infantile onset, 47 (26.4%) had late-infantile onset, 41 (23.0%) had juvenile onset, and 37 (20.8%) had adult onset. 10 (5.6%) patients had the neonatal rapidly fatal systemic form. Among the 97 patients with identified NPC1 variants, the most common variant was the c. 3182T > C variant responsible for the p.lle1061Thr protein change, reported in 35.1% (N = 34) of patients. The frequencies of hepatomegaly and neonatal jaundice were greatest in patients with early-infantile and late-infantile onset. Splenomegaly was the most commonly reported observation, including 80% of adult-onset patients. The most commonly reported neurological manifestations were cognitive impairment (78.5%), dysarthria (75.9%), ataxia (75.9%), vertical supranuclear gaze palsy (VSGP) (70.9%), dysphagia (69.6%). A 6-domain composite disability scale was used to calculate the overall disability score according to neurological-onset. Across all with neurological onset, the majority of patients showed moderate to severe impairments in all domains, excluding ‘swallowing’ and ‘seizure’. The age at diagnosis and death increased with increased age of neurological symptom onset. Miglustat use was recorded in 62.43% of patients and the most common symptomatic therapies used by patients were antiepileptics (32.94%), antidepressants (11.76%) and antacids (9.41%). Conclusion The proportion of participants at each age of neurological onset was relatively consistent across the cohort. Neurological manifestations, such as ataxia, dysphagia, and dysarthria, were frequently observed across all age categories.

AbstractMiglustat has been indicated for the treatment of Niemann‐Pick disease type C (NP‐C) since 2009. The aim of this observational study was to assess the effect of miglustat on long‐term survival of patients with NP‐C. Data for 789 patients from five large national cohorts and from the NPC Registry were collected and combined. Miglustat‐treated and untreated patients overall and within sub‐groups according to age‐at‐neurological‐onset, that is, early infantile‐onset (<2 years), late infantile‐onset (2 to <6 years), juvenile‐onset (6 to <15 years), and adolescent/adult‐onset (≥15 years) were analysed and compared. Survival was analysed from the time of first neurological manifestation (Neurological onset group, comprising 669 patients) and from diagnosis (Diagnosis group, comprising 590 patients) using a Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for various covariates. Overall, 384 (57.4%) patients in the Neurological onset group and 329 (55.8%) in the Diagnosis group were treated with miglustat. Miglustat treatment was associated with a significant reduction in risk of mortality in both groups (entire Neurological onset group, Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.51; entire Diagnosis group, HR = 0.44; both P < .001). The effect was observed consistently in all age‐at‐neurological‐onset sub‐groups (HRs = 0.3 to 0.7) and was statistically significant for late infantile‐onset patients in both groups (Neurological onset group, HR = 0.36, P < .05; Diagnosis group, HR = 0.32, P < .01), and juvenile‐onset patients in the Diagnosis group only (HR = 0.30, P < .05). Despite the limitations of the data that urge cautious interpretation, the findings are consistent with a beneficial effect of miglustat on survival in patients with NP‐C.