Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt

Abstract Background Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare inherited neurodegenerative disease that affects the peripheral and central nervous systems. Herein, we describe three Egyptian siblings with GAN who showed differences in clinical severity. Case Presentation. Case 1 had slowly progressive...

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Main Authors: Abdelrahim A. Sadek, Mohammed A. Aladawy, Tarek M. M. Mansour, Ali Farag El Hadad, Abd Elaziz Shokry, Rin Khang, Seung Woo Ryu, Elsayed Abdelkreem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-07-01
Series:Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00755-y
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author Abdelrahim A. Sadek
Mohammed A. Aladawy
Tarek M. M. Mansour
Ali Farag El Hadad
Abd Elaziz Shokry
Rin Khang
Seung Woo Ryu
Elsayed Abdelkreem
author_facet Abdelrahim A. Sadek
Mohammed A. Aladawy
Tarek M. M. Mansour
Ali Farag El Hadad
Abd Elaziz Shokry
Rin Khang
Seung Woo Ryu
Elsayed Abdelkreem
author_sort Abdelrahim A. Sadek
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare inherited neurodegenerative disease that affects the peripheral and central nervous systems. Herein, we describe three Egyptian siblings with GAN who showed differences in clinical severity. Case Presentation. Case 1 had slowly progressive sensorimotor polyneuropathy starting from 6 years of age with lack of remarkable central nervous system (CNS) involvement till age of 14 years. In contrast, case 2 showed early-onset neurodevelopmental delay, rapidly progressive course, and significant CNS manifestations. Case 3 had an intermediate phenotype. The extent of brain imaging abnormalities paralleled the clinical severity as case 1 had only moderate white matter changes while case 2 showed extensive white matter lesions, ventriculomegaly, and atrophic changes. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel homozygous nonsense GAN variant c.918G > A (p.Trp306Ter). Conclusion This is the first case report of GAN from Egyptian populations, which expands the spectrum of disease-causing variants in the GAN gene and underscores the clinical heterogeneity of this disease even among patients sharing the same genotype and environmental conditions.
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institution Kabale University
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series Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics
spelling doaj-art-a18a13155d244997bf92fe0dc1636e112025-08-20T04:03:01ZengSpringerOpenEgyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics2090-24412025-07-012611610.1186/s43042-025-00755-yThree siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from EgyptAbdelrahim A. Sadek0Mohammed A. Aladawy1Tarek M. M. Mansour2Ali Farag El Hadad3Abd Elaziz Shokry4Rin Khang5Seung Woo Ryu6Elsayed Abdelkreem7Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag UniversityNeurology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar UniversityDepartment of Radio-Diagnosis, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar UniversityDepartment of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar UniversityDepartment of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar UniversityDivision of Medical GeneticsDivision of Medical GeneticsDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag UniversityAbstract Background Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare inherited neurodegenerative disease that affects the peripheral and central nervous systems. Herein, we describe three Egyptian siblings with GAN who showed differences in clinical severity. Case Presentation. Case 1 had slowly progressive sensorimotor polyneuropathy starting from 6 years of age with lack of remarkable central nervous system (CNS) involvement till age of 14 years. In contrast, case 2 showed early-onset neurodevelopmental delay, rapidly progressive course, and significant CNS manifestations. Case 3 had an intermediate phenotype. The extent of brain imaging abnormalities paralleled the clinical severity as case 1 had only moderate white matter changes while case 2 showed extensive white matter lesions, ventriculomegaly, and atrophic changes. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a novel homozygous nonsense GAN variant c.918G > A (p.Trp306Ter). Conclusion This is the first case report of GAN from Egyptian populations, which expands the spectrum of disease-causing variants in the GAN gene and underscores the clinical heterogeneity of this disease even among patients sharing the same genotype and environmental conditions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00755-yGiant axonal neuropathyGANGenotypePhenotypeVariant
spellingShingle Abdelrahim A. Sadek
Mohammed A. Aladawy
Tarek M. M. Mansour
Ali Farag El Hadad
Abd Elaziz Shokry
Rin Khang
Seung Woo Ryu
Elsayed Abdelkreem
Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics
Giant axonal neuropathy
GAN
Genotype
Phenotype
Variant
title Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
title_full Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
title_fullStr Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
title_full_unstemmed Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
title_short Three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in GAN gene: the first report from Egypt
title_sort three siblings with giant axonal neuropathy caused by a novel variant in gan gene the first report from egypt
topic Giant axonal neuropathy
GAN
Genotype
Phenotype
Variant
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s43042-025-00755-y
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