Phenylbutyrate for Monogenetic Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy

Summary

This study is to evaluate the use of glycerol phenylbutyrate for monogenetic developmental epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs). DEEs are characterized by epilepsy and developmental delay in early life. Two examples of DEEs are STXBP1 and SLC6A1, though there are dozens of others. STXBP1 Encephalopathy is a severe disease that can cause seizures and developmental delays in infants and children. SLC6A1 neurodevelopmental disorder is characterized by developmental delay and often epilepsy. Both STXBP1 encephalopathy and SLC6A1 neurodevelopmental disorder cause symptoms because there are not enough working proteins made by these genes. It is possible that a medication called phenylbutyrate may help the the remaining proteins work better for STXBP1, SLC6A1, and/or other similar DEEs caused by single genes (i.e. "monogenetic"). This study is to test if glycerol phenylbutyrate is safe and well tolerated in children with monogenetic DEE.

Timeline

Start

2021-03-01

Primary completion

2026-12-01

Completion

2026-12-31

Publications

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• Background Wang J, Poliquin S, Mermer F, Eissman J, Delpire E, Wang J, Shen W, Cai K, Li BM, Li ZY, Xu D, Nwosu G, Flamm C, Liao WP, Shi YW, Kang JQ. Endoplasmic reticulum retention and degradation of a mutation in SLC6A1 associated with epilepsy and autism. Mol Brain. 2020 May 12;13(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s13041-020-00612-6.
• Background El-Kasaby A, Kasture A, Koban F, Hotka M, Asjad HMM, Kubista H, Freissmuth M, Sucic S. Rescue by 4-phenylbutyrate of several misfolded creatine transporter-1 variants linked to the creatine transporter deficiency syndrome. Neuropharmacology. 2019 Dec 15;161:107572. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.03.015. Epub 2019 Mar 15.
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