Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that brain white matter integrity mediates the relationship between phenylalanine (Phe) control and executive abilities in children with phenylketonuria (PKU; N = 36). To do so, we examined mean diffusivity (MD) from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in two white matter brain regions (posterior parietal–occipital, PPO; centrum semiovale, CSO) and lifetime phenylalanine (Phe) exposure; the executive abilities examined included verbal strategic processing, nonverbal strategic processing, and working memory. Mediation modeling showed that MD in the PPO and CSO mediated the relationship between Phe exposure and nonverbal strategic processing, MD in the CSO mediated the relationship between Phe exposure and verbal strategic processing, and MD in the PPO mediated the relationship between Phe exposure and working memory. These exploratory findings demonstrate the importance of using sophisticated modeling procedures to understand the interplay among metabolic control, neural factors, and functional outcomes in individuals with PKU.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank those who participated in our research for their contributions. We also thank Suzin Blankenship and Laurie Sprietsma for their contributions to study management, as well as the physicians and staff of Washington University and Oregon Health & Science University who generously contributed to the study through recruitment and phenylalanine monitoring.
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Communicated by: Nicole Wolf, MD PhD
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Funding
This research was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD044901 and U54HD087011), an Investigator Sponsored Trial grant from BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University with funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD062171) and the James S. McDonnell Foundation.
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Anna Hood, Jerrel Rutlin, and Joshua Shimony declare that they have no conflict of interest. Desiree White and Dorothy Grange have received research grants from BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and have served as consultants for BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients included in the study.
Contribution of Authors
Desiree White designed the study, wrote the protocol, trained research staff, supervised data collection, interpreted data, and co-wrote the manuscript. Anna Hood conducted literature review, analyzed, and interpreted data, and co-wrote the manuscript. Jerrel Rutlin analyzed and interpreted data and provided input on the writing of the paper. Joshua Shimony contributed to study design and provided statistical analysis, neuroimaging consultation, and input on the writing of the paper. Dorothy Grange contributed to study design, participant recruitment, and provided input on the writing of the paper. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
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Hood, A., Rutlin, J., Shimony, J.S., Grange, D.K., White, D.A. (2016). Brain White Matter Integrity Mediates the Relationship Between Phenylalanine Control and Executive Abilities in Children with Phenylketonuria. In: Morava, E., Baumgartner, M., Patterson, M., Rahman, S., Zschocke, J., Peters, V. (eds) JIMD Reports, Volume 33. JIMD Reports, vol 33. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8904_2016_579
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8904_2016_579
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