Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a sporadic disease in most of the cases; in 10-15% of cases genetic forms are recorded. A genetic form of ALS associated with the mutation in the ERBB4 gene (ALS19) has been reported in 2013. A protein encoded by the ERBB4 is probably involved in ubiquitous component of the pathogenesis of ALS. We present a case of ALS associated with a new pathogenic variant of the ERBB4 gene, with early bulbar onset and slow progression of the disease within 10 years.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias represent a group of hereditary neurodegenerative disorders predominantly affecting corticospinal tracts which manifest with prominent spasticity and reduced power in the muscles of the lower limbs. According to clinical signs hereditary spastic paraplegias are divided into uncomplicated (classic) and complicated forms, according to the nature of inheritance – into autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and X-linked. Mechanisms of the development of hereditary spastic paraplegias depend on the form and could be associated with misfolding of the proteins in endoplasmatic reticulum, mitochondrial dysfunction, changes in the cholesterol metabolism etc. Diagnosis is made after exclusion of other disorders of the central nervous system and could be confirmed by molecular genetic methods. Treatment of hereditary spastic paraplegias is symptomatic.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a group of neurodegenerative disorders with a predominant lesion of the pyramidal tract. The autosomal dominant form of SPG3A, associated with mutations in the ATL1 gene, is one of the most common forms of HSP in European populations. Analysis of the ATL1 gene was performed in 63 unrelated families with HSP from the Republic of Bashkortostan. Two pathogenic variants were identified: one patient had a duplication of the entire third exon, and seven patients from three unrelated families had a missense mutation c.1246C>T (p.Arg416Cys). The frequency of SPG3A among unrelated patients in Bashkortostan was 6.3%. In one of the examined families, the origin of the c.1246C>T de novo mutation was established. The clinical symptoms of the disease in most cases correspond to uncomplicated HSP occurring in a mild form. Intrafamilial differences in clinical manifestations of the disease, including in identical twins, were revealed. The age of manifestation in the majority of examined patients ranged from 10 to 50 years.

Background. Glutaric aciduria type 1 is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the GCDH gene, which encodes the enzyme glutaryl‑CoA dehydrogenase. Metabolic crisis in type 1 glutaric aciduria is an acute life‑threatening condition that requires careful diagnosis with a number of other conditions and the immediate initiation of pathogenetic therapy.Materials and methods. Clinical manifestations, neuroimaging characteristics of the disease were studied in 46 patients with diagnosed glutaric aciduria type 1 confirmed by biochemical and molecular genetic methods. Methods: gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry, Sanger sequencing, chromosomal microarray analysis of the exon level.Results and discussion. A retrospective analysis of anamnestic and clinical data was carried out, and the nature and age of disease manifestation, provoking factors, a spectrum of clinical manifestations and neuroimaging data were assessed.Conclusion. How initiated treatment prevents progression of neurological symptom relief and patient adaptation. With the help of the goal, it is necessary to inform pediatricians, neurologists and neuroradiologists about this feature of the course of glutaric aciduria type 1 in order to increase the clinical alertness of this disease.

Leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter (VWM disease) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with a specific magnetic resonance pattern characterized by diffuse lesions to the white matter and cystic degeneration. In this article, we report a case VWM disease in a boy with white matter lesions, in whom early onset and neurological symptoms suggested infantile form of the disease. The diagnosis was confirmed by the detection of biallelic mutations c.1688G>A (p.Arg563Gln) and c.1309G>A (p.Val437Met) in the EIF2B5 gene. The c.1309G>A mutation (p.Val437Met) was detected for the first time; it caused the development of severe disease.

The article describes a rare clinical case of Gaucher disease in a 5 month old girl, confirmed by molecular genetic analysis. In the presented clinical case, there is a onset of lysosomal accumulation disease, which is accompanied by changes in the clinical analysis of blood (anemia, thrombocytopenia), hepatosplenomegaly, congenital malformations (open arterial duct, open oval window) and severe neurologic deficit.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a group of neurodegenerative disorders with a predominant lesion of the pyramidal tract. To date, mutations responsible for the disease have been identified in more than 70 genetic loci. The main causes of HSP development are mutations in the SPAST gene, but major mutations are rare for this disease. Study of HSP patients from 63 unrelated families from the Bashkortostan Republic (BR) identified the c.283delG (p.Ala95Profs*66) mutation in the SPAST gene in families of Tatar ethnicity with a high frequency. In the general cohort of unrelated patients from the Bashkortostan Republic, its frequency was 19%, and in the cohort of Tatar patients, it was 44%. HSP was found to be inherited in an autosomal dominant manner in all families with this mutation. The clinical symptoms of the disease in most of these families corresponded to the uncomplicated phenotype, typical of the SPG4 form of HSP.

Background. Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies (HMSN, Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease) form genetically heterogenous and clinically polymorphic group of diseases which predominantly affect peripheral nervous system. Correct primary diagnostics of these diseases is a starting point for planning subsequent molecular and genetic diagnostics.Objective. Analysis of primary diagnostics of HMSN for subsequent improvement of specialized medical and genetic help for patients and their families.Materials and methods. We analyzed 260 primary diagnoses of patients referred to a neurogeneticist for consultation and registered in the Genetics Consultation Clinic with the diagnosis of HMSN between 1970 and 2016.Results. A total of 17 variants of referral diagnoses of patients with HMSN were identified. They can be divided into 3 subgroups: hereditary diseases of the nervous and neuromuscular systems, other diseases of the nervous system, diseases of other systems. A correct diagnosis was listed in a little more than half (58.1 %) of all cases of primary referrals. The most common (10.8 %) erroneous referral diagnosis of patients with HMSN was Friedreich’s ataxia. Most of erroneous referral diagnoses could be confidently ruled out at the stage of primary clinical diagnosis and after electroneuromyography. Altogether, in the observed period percentage of correct referral diagnoses increased while the specter of erroneous diagnoses decreased significantly which attests to increased doctors’ awareness of HMSN.Conclusion. In order to improve HMSN diagnostics doctors should pay more attention to analysis of family medical history and perform a clinical examination of all proband’s available relatives.

BACKGROUND Hereditary motor-sensory neuropathy 1X (НМСН 1X) is the second frequent form of hereditary motor-sensory neuropathies caused by mutations in the GJB1 gene (gap junction B1 type). The authors have established earlier that the с.259C>G (р.P87A) mutation is the most frequent cause of НМСН 1Х (92%) in patients from the Republic of Bashkortostan. AIM To study in details the territorial ethnic distribution and clinical manifestations of the с.259C>G (р.P87A) in the GJB1 gene in patients with НМСН 1Х from the Republic of Bashkortostan. MATERIAL AND METHODS Clinical/neurological data were assessed in 52 patients (32 men and 20 women) from 13 families with this НМСН 1Х mutation in accordance to the diagnostic criteria of the European neuromuscular center. Twenty-three patients underwent standard electroneuromyographic study ('Nicolet Viking quest') using cutaneous electrodes. Data analysis was performed with Statistica ver.6.0 ('Stat Soft, Inc.', 2003) software. RESULTS The с.259C>G (р.P87A) mutation was more frequent in Bashkir (61%) and Russian (31%) families from 6 areas of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The age-at-onset was 13.24±4.33 years in men. In women, the age-at-onset varied from 7 to 45 years, it was difficult to detect this parameter in several patients due to the absence of complaints and symptoms of disease. A comparative analysis revealed the higher degree of peripheral nerve lesions in men compared to women. There was the distinct difference in electrophysiological parameters (excitation spreading velocity and M-response amplitude) along motor fibers of the middle nerves between men and women that indicated the predominantly demyelinating character of the pathological process in men and the axonal character in women. CONCLUSION Clear clinical/electrophysiological sex differences (intra- and inter family) were shown in patients with НМСН IX with the с.259C>G (р.P87A) mutation in the GJB1 gene. The disease was less severe and often with the absence of symptoms in women. Genetic testing for mutations in the GJB1 gene, including the с.259C>G (р.P87A) mutation, can be recommended to female patients with excitation spreading velocity >38m/s.

The authors present a case-report of 13 year-old girl with L-2-hydroxyglutaric aciduria [MIM#236792], a rare autosomal/recessive metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the L-encoding 2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (L2HGDH, 14q21.3). Clinical signs of the disease are presented by predominantly neurological symptoms (epilepsy, cerebellar ataxia, cognitive impairment). The distinctive feature is the specific multifocal lesion of the white matter detected on MRI. The characteristic neuroimaging picture and positive results of biochemical and molecular genetic diagnosis were identified.

The paper presents a brief review of an update of the etiology and pathogenesis of Niemann–Pick disease type C (NPC), a rare neurovisceral lysosomal storage disease. It highlights the main clinical manifestations and classification of the disease. There is information about developed pathogenic miglustat substrate reduction therapy for NPC. The authors describe their clinical case of adult-onset NPC in a 32-year-old female patient. The clinical syndrome and the results of laboratory and instrumental studies that could establish an accurate diagnosis and determine indications for pathogenetic therapy are given in detail.

Hereditary spastik paraplegias (HSP) are a group of neurodegenerative disorders with primary lesion of the pyramidal tract. The most frequent autosomal dominant form of the disease in Europeans is HSP associated with mutations in the spastin gene (SPG4). Analysis of the gene SPG4 was carried out in 52 unrelated families with HSP from Bashkortostan by SSCP and following sequencing. Previously undescribed frameshift mutations c.322del29 (p.Val108SerfsX18) and c.885del10 (p.Thr295ThrfsX16) were detected in two unrelated families. Clinical studies have shown that, in both families, the disease corresponds to an uncomplicated form of hereditary spastic paraplegia, a main feature of which is the lower spastic paraparesis without any other symptoms.

The clinical features of the disease in patients from a Russian family with the dominant hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) due to the new mutation in the GDAP1 gene: s.934G> A (p.Ala312Thr) are described in this article. The main characteristics of the disease: age of onset (2 decade of life), slow progression, mild clinical symptoms (compared to frequent recessive form HMSN4A) and predominantly axonal lesion of the nerve fibers correspond to known form - HMSN2K.