Globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb) and analogues in plasma and urine of patients with Fabry disease and correlations with long-term treatment and genotypes in a nationwide female Danish cohort.

INTRODUCTION

Recent studies showed the usefulness of globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb) and related analogues, deacylated forms of globotriaosylceramide (Gb), for high-risk screening, treatment monitoring and follow-up for patients with Fabry disease.

METHODS

We evaluated Gb, lyso-Gb and analogues using tandem mass spectrometry in 57 women with Fabry disease followed during a period of 15.4 years. Twenty-one women were never treated and 36 received treatment (agalsidase-beta, n=30; agalsidase-alfa, n=5; or migalastat, n=1). Lyso-Gb and analogues at (-28), (-2), (+16), (+34) and (+50) were analysed in plasma and urine. Total Gb and lyso-Gb analogues at (-12) and (+14) were evaluated in urine while the analogue at (+18) was evaluated in plasma.

RESULTS

A strong correlation between plasma and urine lyso-Gb and analogue levels was revealed. Plasma and urine lyso-Gb and analogue levels were not statistically different between patients carrying missense (n=49), nonsense (n=6) or deletion mutations (n=2). Never treated patients had lower plasma lyso-Gb and analogues at (-28), (-2), (+16), (+34) and the seven urinary lyso-Gb analogues compared with pretreatment levels of the treated patients. A significant reduction of plasma lyso-Gb and five analogues, as well as urine Gb and six lyso-Gb analogues, but not lyso-Gb and lyso-Gb at (+50), was observed post-treatment with agalsidase-beta. The same tendency was observed with agalsidase-alfa.

CONCLUSION

Women with Fabry disease who started treatment based on clinical manifestations had higher lyso-Gb and analogue biomarker levels than never treated women. This indicates that a biomarker cut-off could potentially be a decision tool for treatment initiation in women with Fabry disease.