Biomarker for Fabry Disease: BioFabry AN INTERNATIONAL, MULTICENTER, EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROTOCOL

Fabry disease is a progressive, inherited, multisystemic lysosomal storage disease characterized by specific neurological, cutaneous, renal, cardiovascular, cochleo-vestibular and cerebrovascular manifestations.

Annual incidence is reported to be 1 in 80,000 live births but this figure may underestimate disease prevalence. When late-onset variants of the disease are considered, a prevalence of approximately 1 in 3,000 has been suggested. Fabry disease is pan-ethnic.

Fabry disease is a disorder of glycosphingolipid metabolism caused by deficient or absent lysosomal alpha-galactosidase A activity related to mutations in the GLA gene (Xq21.3-q22) encoding the alpha-galactosidase A enzyme. Deficient activity results in accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) within lysosomes, believed to trigger a cascade of cellular events.

Fabry disease is transmitted as an X-linked trait. The existence of atypical, late-onset, variants and the availability of specific therapy complicate genetic counseling.

The clinical picture covers a wide spectrum ranging from mild cases in heterozygous females, to severe cases in classically affected hemizygous males with no residual alpha-galactosidase A activity. These patients may have all the characteristic neurological (pain), cutaneous (angiokeratoma), renal (proteinuria, kidney failure), cardiovascular (cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia), cochleo-vestibular (hearing loss and vertigo) and cerebrovascular (transient ischemic attacks, strokes) symptoms of the disease.