Clinical Description
MBD5 haploinsufficiency is a neurodevelopmental disorder that comprises developmental delay / intellectual disability (ID), severe speech impairment, seizures, sleep disturbances, and behavior issues with autistic features [Jaillard et al 2009, van Bon et al 2010, Talkowski et al 2011, Noh & Graham 2012]. To date, 105 individuals have been identified with a pathogenic variant in MBD5 [Mullegama & Elsea 2016]. The following description of the phenotypic features associated with this condition is based on these reports.
Table 2.
Select Features of MBD5 Haploinsufficiency
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Feature | % of Persons w/Feature |
---|
Developmental delay | 100% |
Seizures | >90% |
Speech impairment | >80% |
Sleep disturbances | ~90% |
Behavior issues | 100% |
Feeding difficulties | >90% |
Hypotonia | ~80% |
Skeletal abnormalities | >50% |
Dysmorphic features | ~80% |
Microcephaly | ~80% |
Ataxic gait | >70% |
Hyperphagia | >50% |
Cardiovascular abnormalities | ~10% |
Developmental delays, evident in all children with MBD5 haploinsufficiency within the first year of life, include delays in gross motor and fine motor development, receptive and expressive language development, and acquisition of social skills. Children typically acquire new skills, without evidence of psychomotor regression.
Motor delays with poor coordination and broad-based/ataxic gait are seen in more than 70% of individuals. The average age of walking is two to three years [van Bon et al 2010, Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014].
Language development is severely impaired [van Bon et al 2010]. Most reported children lack speech entirely [Talkowski et al 2011] or have single words or short (2- to 3-word) phrases [Bonnet et al 2013] or (2- to 6-word) sentences [Hodge et al 2014].
Seizures occur in more than 80% of children [Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014]. Onset of seizures is usually around age two years [Bonnet et al 2013, Shichiji et al 2013, Hodge et al 2014, Myers et al 2021].
Although seizure types have not been well characterized, typically only one seizure type is observed in an individual. Seizure types most often include generalized tonic-clonic, focal, atypical absence, tonic, drop attacks, and myoclonic seizures. Atonic, sleep-related, and startle-induced atonic seizures have also been reported [Jaillard et al 2009, van Bon et al 2010, Williams et al 2010, Chung et al 2011, Talkowski et al 2011, Motobayashi et al 2012, Noh & Graham 2012, Bonnet et al 2013, Hodge et al 2014, Myers et al 2021].
In the few instances in which EEG studies have been performed, patterns were nonspecific; however, a few individuals were reported to have focal spikes and spike-wave complexes [van Bon et al 2010, Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014, Myers et al 2021].
Sleep disturbances, present in about 90% of affected children, include frequent nighttime waking, short sleep duration, apparent night terrors in the early part of sleep, and waking in the early hours of the morning [Jaillard et al 2009, van Bon et al 2010, Williams et al 2010, Chung et al 2011, Talkowski et al 2011, Noh & Graham 2012, Bonnet et al 2013, Hodge et al 2014, Mullegama et al 2014, Gandhi et al 2021]. Many exhibit excessive daytime sleepiness [Mullegama et al 2015b].
Behavior issues. Short attention span and autistic-like behaviors (gaze avoidance, inattention, and repetitive behaviors) [Tan et al 2014] and stereotypic and repetitive behaviors (e.g., teeth grinding, chewing of the hands, and repetitive hand movements) are seen in more than 80% of affected individuals. Self-injury and aggression are seen in more than 60% of individuals. Other behaviors mentioned in approximately 9% of reported individuals include anxiety, hyperactivity, inappropriate happy demeanor, and social withdrawal [Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014].
Feeding difficulties and constipation, likely related to hypotonia, are seen in more than 90% of infants.
Skeletal abnormalities (observed in 65 individuals with MBD5 haploinsufficiency) include small hands and feet (~75%), fifth-finger clinodactyly (~70%), generalized brachydactyly (~41%), short fifth digit of the hands and feet (40%), and sandal gap (~33%) [Talkowski et al 2011].
Other musculoskeletal abnormalities mentioned in at least two affected individuals each are hip dysplasia, joint laxity, and scoliosis.
Cardiovascular abnormalities (reported in ~10%) include atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and pulmonary valve stenosis [Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014].
Dysmorphic features are seen in the majority of affected individuals. Microcephaly is common. Additional features may include broad forehead, thick / highly arched eyebrows, outer ear abnormalities (e.g., forward-facing large earlobes, protruding ears, cupped ears), short nose, depressed or wide nasal bridge, downturned corners of the mouth, everted vermilion of the lower lip, and tented and thin vermilion of the upper lip [Talkowski et al 2011, Hodge et al 2014, Mullegama & Elsea 2016].