Myophosphorylase deficiency: an unusually severe form with myoglobinuria

The second wind phenomenon in very young McArdle's patients

We investigated the phenomenon of second wind in four patients with McArdle's disease: a brother and sister (aged 4 and 12 years respectively) and two unrelated patients, a boy of 14 and a 17-year-old girl. We also studied the siblings' healthy 6-year-old sister. Each patient performed a 15-min exercise test at a constant workload and a subsequent graded exercise test until exhaustion. Overall the healthy girl and the youngest McArdle's patient, the 4-year-old boy, did not show a second wind phenomenon. Further, the peak cardio-respiratory capacity of the young McArdle's boy was normal for his age (32.3 mL 02/kg/min) and he did not report any function limitations during physical education classes.

[McArdle disease (gycogenosis type V): analysis of clinical, biological and genetic features of five French patients]

INTRODUCTION

McArdle disease (glycogenosis type V) is an autosomal recessive metabolic myopathy. Defect in glycogen breakdown is due to mutations of the gene for myophosphorylase (PYGM). Among patients of the department, we searched for correlations between disease phenotype, biochemistry analysis of muscle samples and PYGM genotype.

METHODS

We included five patients whose muscle biopsy showed deposits of glycogen and negative histochemical staining for myophosphorylase.

RESULTS

All patients exhibited exercise intolerance and high serum CK levels (mean 4400). Two of them had an acute renal insufficiency caused by rhabdomyolysis. One patient developed moderate late-onset muscle weakness of the proximal part of upper limbs. Muscle glycogen concentration was high (three times the normal). Myophosphorylase activity was undetectable in four muscle samples out of five. Two patients were homozygous and two other heterozygous for the R50X mutation of PYGM. The other one had a novel missense mutation S814N. Patients homozygous for R50X mutation had higher CK levels (8080 versus 1457, p=0.046), but disease severity and muscle glycogen concentrations were equivalent.

CONCLUSIONS

Our patients had typical clinical and laboratory features of McArdle disease. Diagnosis was suggested by exercise intolerance with high CK levels. The R50X mutation was the most common (60% of the mutated alleles). We found no relationship between clinical severity, PYGM genotype and biochemistry analysis of muscle samples.

One-year follow-up in a child with McArdle disease: exercise is medicine

A 9-year-old boy with McArdle disease, who demonstrated remarkable recovery of objectively measured exercise tolerance after 1 year of follow-up, during which he pursued age-appropriate physical activities. The patient presented 1 year previously with severe myalgia, muscle weakness, proteinuria, hematuria, hyperthermia, and elevated creatine kinase levels after noncompetitive swimming. At that time, he reported a 3-year history of general myalgia and poor exercise tolerance. He was diagnosed with McArdle disease by both biochemical and genetic methods. Subsequently he performed a maximal exercise test and was prescribed a return to age-appropriate physical activity (protected by a pre-exercise dietary consumption of approximately 20 g carbohydrate). At 1-year follow up, he reported no subsequent acute clinical episodes, no general problems with exercise either at school or in ordinary activities, a virtual normalization of serum creatine kinase levels, and a 14% increase in body mass-adjusted peak oxygen uptake (from 18.8 to 21.8 mL O2/kg/min). The results suggest that, with protection by increasing pre-exercise blood glucose with carbohydrate ingestion, a substantially normal lifestyle may be possible in some children with McArdle disease.

Exercise capacity in a child with McArdle disease

We report the exercise capacity of an 8-year-old boy with clinical, histological, biochemical, and genetic evidence of McArdle disease. The patient presented with severe myalgia, proteinuria, hematuria, pyrexia, and elevated creatine kinase after swimming. After pre-exercise ingestion of sucrose, he performed treadmill exercise to symptom limitation. His peak oxygen uptake (18.8 mL/kg/min) and ventilatory threshold (16.0 mL/kg/min) were reduced by 40% and 20% compared with healthy age-matched and gender-matched controls. The results suggest that exercise capacity is reduced early in life in patients with McArdle disease and suggest the need for prophylactic exercise training (following pre-exercise feeding to prevent rhabdomyolysis) to minimize deconditioning.

Muscle fatigue during high-intensity exercise in children

Children are able to resist fatigue better than adults during one or several repeated high-intensity exercise bouts. This finding has been reported by measuring mechanical force or power output profiles during sustained isometric maximal contractions or repeated bouts of high-intensity dynamic exercises. The ability of children to better maintain performance during repeated high-intensity exercise bouts could be related to their lower level of fatigue during exercise and/or faster recovery following exercise. This may be explained by muscle characteristics of children, which are quantitatively and qualitatively different to those of adults. Children have less muscle mass than adults and hence, generate lower absolute power during high-intensity exercise. Some researchers also showed that children were equipped better for oxidative than glycolytic pathways during exercise, which would lead to a lower accumulation of muscle by-products. Furthermore, some reports indicated that the lower ability of children to activate their type II muscle fibres would also explain their greater resistance to fatigue during sustained maximal contractions. The lower accumulation of muscle by-products observed in children may be suggestive of a reduced metabolic signal, which induces lower ratings of perceived exertion. Factors such as faster phosphocreatine resynthesis, greater oxidative capacity, better acid-base regulation, faster readjustment of initial cardiorespiratory parameters and higher removal of metabolic by-products in children could also explain their faster recovery following high-intensity exercise.From a clinical point of view, muscle fatigue profiles are different between healthy children and children with muscle and metabolic diseases. Studies of dystrophic muscles in children indicated contradictory findings of changes in contractile properties and the muscle fatigability. Some have found that the muscle of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) fatigued less than that of healthy boys, but others have reported that the fatigue in DMD and in normal muscle was the same. Children with glycogenosis type V and VII and dermatomyositis, and obese children tolerate exercise weakly and show an early fatigue. Studies that have investigated the fatigability in children with cerebral palsy have indicated that the femoris quadriceps was less fatigable than that of a control group but the fatigability of the triceps surae was the same between the two groups. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms explaining the origins of muscle fatigue in healthy and diseased children. The use of non-invasive measurement tools such as magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy in paediatric exercise science will give researchers more insight in the future.

Myoglobinuria

Myoglobinuria refers to an abnormal pathologic state in which an excessive amount of myoglobin is found in the urine, imparting a cola-like hue, usually in association with myonecrosis and a clinical picture of weakness, myalgias, and edema. Myoglobinuria is produced by multiple causes: any condition that accelerates the use or interferes with the availability of oxygen or energy substrates to muscle cells can result in myoglobinuria, as can events that produce direct muscle injury, either mechanical or chemical. Acute renal failure is the most serious complication, which can be prevented by prompt, aggressive treatment. In patients surviving acute attacks, recovery of muscle and renal function is usually complete.

The molecular background of glycogen metabolism disorders

The molecular pathology of classical glycogen storage disorders, glycogen synthase deficiency and Fanconi-Bickel syndrome is reviewed. The isolation of the respective cDNAs, the chromosomal localization of the genes and the elucidation of the genomic organization enabled mutation analysis in most disorders. The findings have shed light on the multi-protein structure of the glucose-6-phosphatase system, the phosphorylase kinase enzymatic complex and the molecular background of the differential tissue expression in debranching enzyme deficiency. The immediate practical benefit of these studies is our extending ability to predict the outcome of clinical variants and to offer genetic counseling to most families. The elucidation of the tertiary structure of these proteins and their structure-function relationship poses major challenges for the future.

Myophosphorylase deficiency associated with a defect in complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain

We studied a 21-year-old patient with clinical, biochemical and histochemical evidence of myophosphorylase deficiency and unusual repetitive episodes of pigmenturia. His muscle biopsy also revealed morphological signs of mitochondrial proliferation and a defect of complex I of the respiratory chain. His mother had exercise intolerance without myoglobinuria and no histochemical evidence of myophosphorylase deficiency. In muscle, the mother showed some ragged-red fibers, normal respiratory chain levels and a significant residual phosphorylase activity. Molecular genetic analysis revealed that the proband was homozygous for the mutation commonly found in McArdle's disease. The mother, father, and the five siblings were all heterozygous for the same mutation. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the proband's muscle failed to demonstrate known mutations associated with his clinical pattern. Moreover, we sequenced his tRNA(Leu(UUR)) gene, a hot spot for mutations, showing no abnormality.

McArdle's disease in childhood: report of a new case

McArdle's disease (glycogenosis type V) is an inherited glycogen storage disease characterized clinically by myalgia, cramps and sometimes myoglobinuria, triggered by exercise. The onset of exercise intolerance is usually in late childhood or adolescence and diagnosis is exceptionally established during infancy. We report the case of a 6-year-old girl who had been complaining of aching muscles for a long time, and who presented after a near-drowning incident, with extensive muscle necrosis, probably secondary to myophosphorylase deficiency-induced cramps. These unusual manifestations led to the diagnosis of this rare disorder. We compare the clinical findings of this case to nine previous reports. This highlights the heterogeneous spectrum of this disease in childhood and supports the distinction of three clinical pictures in childhood: a neonatal form rapidly fatal, a milder form with congenital myopathic symptoms and a benign classical form with myalgia, cramps and pigmenturia.

Myoglobinuria, malignant hyperthermia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and serotonin syndrome

This article presents an overview of the causes and manifestations of myoglobinuria and provides criteria for its diagnosis and management. The article also reviews neuroleptic malignant syndrome, malignant hyperthermia, and serotonin syndrome, all of which could cause rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in a family with myophosphorylase deficiency

A previously healthy girl died suddenly and unexpectedly at three months of age in her sleep and an autopsy failed to reveal an adequate cause of death. As the father was known to have myophosphorylase (PPL) deficiency (McArdle's disease), we performed molecular genetic analysis of the PPL gene in autopsy muscle of the proposita. The girl was homozygous for the nonsense mutation at codon 49 most commonly associated with typical McArdle's disease. This report suggests that among children presenting as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) there may be cases associated with myophosphorylase deficiency.

Double trouble: combined myophosphorylase and AMP deaminase deficiency in a child homozygous for nonsense mutations at both loci

A 2-yr-old boy had congenital hypotonia, limb weakness, exercise intolerance and one episode of myoglobinuria. Histochemical and biochemical analysis of muscle showed a combined defect of phosphorylase and AMP deaminase. DNA analysis showed that the child was homozygous for the mutations commonly found in both McArdle's disease and AMP deaminase deficiency. The father was heterozygous for both mutations. The mother was heterozygous for the myophosphorylase gene mutation and homozygous for the mutation in the AMP deaminase 1 gene.

The molecular genetic basis of myophosphorylase deficiency (McArdle's disease)

Glycogen phosphorylase catalyzes the first step of glycogen catabolism. Hereditary defects of muscle phosphorylase lead to a myopathy characterized by exercise intolerance, cramps, and myoglobinuria (McArdle's disease). We have identified ten mutations in the myophosphorylase gene in patients with McArdle's disease. Relatively common mutations include: a nonsense mutation, CGA(Arg) to TGA at codon 49, observed in 30 of 40 American patients; deletion of a single codon 708/709, observed in 4 of 7 Japanese patients; and a missense mutation, GGC(Gly) to AGC(Ser) at codon 204, observed in 5 of 40 American patients. Apparently rare mutations include: a splice-junction mutation, G to A, at the first nt of intron 14; a deletion of G at codon 510; a mutation, ATG to CTG, in the translation initiation codon; and missense mutations, AAG(Lys) to ACG(Thr) at codon 542, CTG(Leu) to CCG(Pro) at codon 396, CTG(Leu) to CCG(Pro) at codon 291, and GAG(Glu) to AAG(Lys) at codon 654. As most mutations can be screened for using genomic DNA, patients can now be diagnosed reliably using peripheral blood cells, thus avoiding muscle biopsy. Although these findings define the wide spectrum of genetic lesions causing McArdle's disease, the clinical heterogeneity of this disorder remains to be explained.