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DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1052384
Clinical Course of GM2 Gangliosidoses - A Correlative Attempt
Publikationsverlauf
Publikationsdatum:
14. Mai 2008 (online)

Abstract
1. The clinical course of the early onset gangliosidoses can be explained on the basis
of the developmental time course of different brain structures and functional systems.
In particular, the maturation of the four basic motor control systems - spinal cord,
brain stem and cerebellum, basal gangIia, cerebral cortex - determines the appearance
of certain motor deficits.
2. In late onset GM2 gangliosidoses, however, regional preference of the storage process has to be assumed
in order to explain certain characteristic features of the disorder.
3. An attempt is made to explain cellular dysfunction in GM2 storage disorders on the basis of
a) developmental defects and/or destruction of the endoplasmatic reticulum and Golgi
apparatus
b) distortion of the neuronal geometry.
4. Hyperirritability and epilepsy are possibly due to a dysequilibrium between excitatory
and inhibitory postsynaptic influences caused by the distortion of the synaptic 'geometry
on the nerve cell surface. Again, the clinical appearance of hyperirritability and
the type of epilepsy are dependent upon the developmental age of the affected nervous
system.
Key words
Gangliosidosis - Tay-Sachs disease - Sandhoff's disease - Blindness - Dementia - Epilepsy - Endoplasmatic reticulum - Dendritic spines