Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 21, 2025

In Vitro Enzyme Measurement to Test Pharmacological Chaperone Responsiveness in Fabry and Pompe Disease
Published on: December 20, 2017
Fabry's Disease: The Utility of a Multidisciplinary Screening Approach
Marco Angelo Monte1, Massimiliano Veroux2, Margherita Stefania Rodolico3
1Department of Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialties, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Abstract:
(1) Background: As a lysosomal storage disorder, Fabry’s disease (FD) shows variable clinical manifestations. We applied our multidisciplinary approach to identify any organ damage in a sample of adult patients with different pathogenic variants. (2) Methods: 49 participants (mean age 44.3 ± 14.2 years; 37 females), underwent a multidimensional clinical and instrumental assessment. (3) Results: At diagnosis, mean enzymatic activity was 5.2 ± 4.6 nM/mL/h in females and 1.4 ± 0.5 nM/mL/h in males (normal values > 3.0), whereas globotriaosylsphingosine was 2.3 ± 2.1 nM/L in females and 28.7 ± 3.5 nM/L in males (normal values < 2.0). Overall, cardiovascular, neurological, and audiological systems were the most involved, regardless of the variant detected. Patients with classic variants (10) showed typical multiorgan involvement and, in some cases, prevalent organ damage (cardiovascular, neurological, renal, and ocular). Those with late-onset variants (39) exhibited lower occurrence of multiorgan impairment, although some of them affected the cardiovascular and neurological systems more. In patients with lower enzymatic activity, the most frequent involvement was neurological, followed by peripheral vascular disease. (4) Conclusions: FD patients exhibited wide phenotypic variability, even at single-organ level, likely due to the individual genetic mutation, although other factors may contribute. Compared to the conventional management, a multidisciplinary approach, as that prompted at our Center, allows one to achieve early clinical detection and management.
More Related Videos
05:56Implementation of Non-invasive Point of Care Transient Elastography for Evaluation of Liver Disease in Pediatric Populations with Cystic Fibrosis
Published on: August 29, 2025
06:50A High-Throughput Electrochemiluminescence 7-Plex Assay Simultaneously Screening for Type 1 Diabetes and Multiple Autoimmune Diseases
Published on: May 29, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Ultrasound II: Endoscopic Ultrasound and FibroScan
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS):
Genetic Screens
Forward genetic screens
Forward or “classical” genetic screens involve creating random mutations in an organism’s DNA using radiation, mutagens, or insertion of additional bases, which...