A Novel Homozygous GPAA1 Variant in a Patient with a Glycosylphosphatidylinositol Biosynthesis Defect

Genes (Basel). 2023 Jul 14;14(7):1444. doi: 10.3390/genes14071444.

Abstract

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol biosynthesis defect 15 is a rare autosomal recessive disorder due to biallelic loss of function of GPAA1. At the moment, less than twenty patients have been reported, usually compound heterozygous for GPAA1 variants. The main clinical features are intellectual disability, hypotonia, seizures, and cerebellar atrophy. We describe a 4-year-old male with a novel, homozygous variant. The patient presents with typical features, such as developmental delay, hypotonia, seizures, and atypical features, such as macrocephaly, preauricular, and cheek appendages. When he was 15 months, the cerebellum was normal. When he was 33 months old, after the molecular diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging was repeated, showing cerebellar atrophy. This case extends the clinical spectrum of the GPAA1-related disorder and helps to delineate phenotypic differences with defects of other subunits of the transamidase complex.

Keywords: GPAA1; cerebellar atrophy; hypotonia; transamidase complex.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Atrophy
  • Cerebellar Diseases*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / genetics
  • Humans
  • Intellectual Disability* / genetics
  • Male
  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • Muscle Hypotonia
  • Seizures

Substances

  • Glycosylphosphatidylinositols
  • GPAA1 protein, human
  • Membrane Glycoproteins

Grants and funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.