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Don’t fight Mevalonic aciduria alone.
Find your community on the free RareGuru App.Mevalonic aciduria is the severe form of mevalonate kinase deficiency, a condition characterized by recurrent episodes of fever that typically begin during infancy. During these fever episodes, people with mevalonic aciduria may have an enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly), lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, diarrhea, joint pain (arthralgia), and skin rashes. Additional ongoing issues include developmental delay, progressive ataxia, progressive problems with vision, an unusually small, elongated head, and failure to thrive. Mevalonic aciduria is caused by deficiency of mevalonate kinase, the first committed enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis. This deficiency occurs as a result of inherited mutations in the MVK gene. This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. Treatment is challenging and remains mainly supportive.
The less severe type of mevalonate kinase deficiency is called hyperimmunoglobulinemia D syndrome (HIDS).
Source: GARD Last updated on 05-01-20
Enzyme replacement therapy is not currently available for mevalonic aciduria.
More information related to this potential treatment is available through the following article.
Buhaescu I, Izzedine H. Mevalonate pathway: a review of clinical and therapeutical implications. Clin Biochem. 2007 Jun;40(9-10):575-84.
Last updated on 05-01-20
Treatment of mevalonic aciduria remains a challenge. There is no standard treatment that is effective in all patients, so it remains mainly supportive. Treatment with simvastatin (an inhibitor of hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the enzyme that catalyzes the formation of mevalonic acid), which has been used with guarded success in patients with HIDS, worsened the clinical status of two patients with mevalonic aciduria. Anakinra, another medication used with some degree of success in HIDS patients, induced partial remission in at least one patient with mevalonic aciduria, but not all patients respond to so favorably.
Reports of successful treatment of mevalonic aciduria through allogenic bone marrow transplantation have also surfaced. At this point, this therapy is investigational and potentially applicable to patients with mevalonic aciduria whose condition is resistant to therapy with anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., inhibitors of TNF- alpha and interleukin-1 beta).
The following articles provide additional details regarding treatment of mevalonic aciduria.
Nevyjel M, Pontillo A, Calligaris L, Tommasini A, D'Osualdo A, Waterham HR, Granzotto M, Crovella S, Barbi E, Ventura A. Diagnostics and therapeutic insights in a severe case of mevalonate kinase deficiency. Pediatrics. 2007 Feb;119(2):e523-7.
Neven B, Valayannopoulos V, Quartier P, Blanche S, Prieur AM, Debré M, Rolland MO, Rabier D, Cuisset L, Cavazzana-Calvo M, de Lonlay P, Fischer A. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mevalonic aciduria. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jun 28;356(26):2700-3.
Arkwright PD, Abinun M, Cant AJ. Mevalonic aciduria cured by bone marrow transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2007 Sep 27;357(13):1350.
Last updated on 05-01-20
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