Mild generalised pustular psoriasis patient with a heterozygous hypomorphic MPO variant successfully treated with granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis

Pathogenic variants in MPO, which encodes the myeloperoxidase, were reported as causative genetic defects in several cases of generalised pustular psoriasis (GPP) in addition to patients with myeloperoxidase deficiency in 2020. However, which clinical subtypes of GPP patients have pathogenic variants in MPO remains largely undetermined, and elucidating this is clinically important. The present report outlines a mild case of GPP with a rare missense heterozygous variant, c.1810C>T p.(Arg604Cys), in MPO. Our structural analysis and functional assays to measure myeloperoxidase activity suggest that the present MPO substitution is a hypomorphic variant in MPO. Thus, the mild phenotype of the present GPP patient might be associated with an incomplete hypomorphic loss-of-function variant in MPO. Additionally, the severe intractable edematous pustules and erythema improved dramatically after five rounds of granulocyte and monocyte adsorption apheresis (GMA) therapy. This is the first report of GMA treatment for GPP associated with a pathogenic variant in MPO, as far as we know. Our findings suggest that GMA might be a useful and powerful tool for controlling GPP in patients with myeloperoxidase deficiency.

KLICK Syndrome Linked to a POMP Mutation Has Features Suggestive of an Autoinflammatory Keratinization Disease

Keratosis linearis with ichthyosis congenita and sclerosing keratoderma (KLICK) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive skin disorder characterized by palmoplantar keratoderma, linear hyperkeratotic plaques, ichthyosiform scaling, circular constrictions around the fingers, and numerous papules distributed linearly in the arm folds and on the wrists. Histologically, the affected skin shows hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the spinous, granular, and horny epidermal layers with mild infiltration of inflammatory cells in the upper dermis. There are 14 patients with KLICK syndrome described in the literature, and they all carry the same nucleotide deletion. Proteasome maturation protein (POMP), encoded by POMP, is an ubiquitously expressed protein that functions as a chaperone for proteasome maturation. KLICK syndrome is caused by a reduction in POMP levels that leads to proteasome insufficiency in differentiating keratinocytes. It is noteworthy that POMP is also known to be the causative gene for proteasome-associated autoinflammatory syndrome-2 (PRAAS2). It is considered that the disrupted proteasome assembly caused by the POMP mutation might lead to both skin inflammation and then hyperkeratosis in KLICK syndrome. Inflammation caused by the hyperactivation of innate immunity occasionally leads to inflammatory diseases of the skin, recently denoted as autoinflammatory keratinization diseases (AiKDs). We propose that KLICK syndrome caused by the specific 1-bp nucleotide deletion mutation in the regulatory region of POMP might be in a spectrum of proteasome-associated phenotypes.