Gene therapy for genetic lipoprotein lipase deficiency: from promise to practice

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency is a rare, hereditary disorder of lipoprotein metabolism characterised by severely increased triglyceride levels, and associated with an increased risk for pancreatitis. Since no adequate treatment modality is available for this disorder, we set out to develop an LPL gene therapy protocol. This paper focuses on the clinical presentation of LPL deficiency, summarises the preclinical investigations in animal models and describes the rationale to evaluate gene therapy for this monogenetic disorder of lipid metabolism in humans.