A Multiplex Assay for the Diagnosis of Mucopolysaccharidoses and Mucolipidoses

Diagnosis of the mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) generally relies on an initial analysis of total glycosaminoglycan (GAG) excretion in urine. Often the dimethylmethylene blue dye-binding (DMB) assay is used, although false-negative results have been reported. We report a multiplexed diagnostic test with a high sensitivity for all MPSs and with the potential to identify patients with I-cell disease (ML II) and mucolipidosis III (ML III).

Urine samples of 100 treatment naive MPS patients were collected and analyzed by the conventional DMB assay and a multiplex assay based on enzymatic digestion of heparan sulfate (HS), dermatan sulfate (DS) and keratan sulfate (KS) followed by quantification by LC-MS/MS. Specificity was calculated by analyzing urine samples from a cohort of 39 patients suspected for an inborn error of metabolism, including MPSs.

The MPS cohort consisted of 18 MPS I, 16 MPS II, 34 MPS III, 10 MPS IVA, 3 MPS IVB, 17 MPS VI and 2 MPS VII patients. All 100 patients were identified by the LC-MS/MS assay with typical patterns of elevation of HS, DS and KS, respectively (sensitivity 100%). DMB analysis of the urine was found to be in the normal range in 10 of the 100 patients (sensitivity 90%). Three out of the 39 patients were identified as false-positive, resulting in a specificity of the LS-MS/MS assay of 92%. For the DMB this was 97%. All three patients with MLII/MLIII had elevated GAGs in the LC-MS/MS assay while the DMB test was normal in 2 of them.

The multiplex LC-MS/MS assay provides a robust and very sensitive assay for the diagnosis of the complete spectrum of MPSs and has the potential to identify MPS related disorders such as MLII/MLIII. Its performance is superior to that of the conventional DMB assay.