The condition is caused by a mutation of the LIPA gene, which is responsible for the gene coding of the lysosomal lipase protein (also called lysosomal acid lipase or LAL), which results in a loss of the proteins normal function. When LAL functions normally, it breaks down cholesteryl esters and triglycerides in low density lipoprotein particles into free cholesterol and free fatty acids that the body can reuse; when LAL doesnt function, cholesteryl esters and triglycerides build up in the liver, spleen and other organs. The accumulation of fat in the walls of the gut and other organs in leads to serious digestive problems including malabsorption, a condition in which the gut fails to absorb nutrients and calories from food, persistent and often forceful vomiting, frequent diarrhea, foul-smelling and fatty stools (steatorrhea), and failure to grow.Lysosomal acid lipase deficiencies occur when a person has defects (mutations) in both copies of the LIPA gene. Each parent of a person with LAL deficiency carries one copy of the defective LIPA gene. With every pregnancy, parents with a son or daughter affected by LAL deficiency have a 1 in 4 (25%) chance of having another affected child. A person born with defects in both LIPA genes is not able to produce adequate amounts of the LAL enzyme.
Diagnosis
Blood tests may show anaemia and their lipid profiles are generally similar to people with more common familial hypercholesterolemia, including elevated total cholesterol, elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and elevated serum transaminases.Liver biopsy findings will generally show a bright yellow-orange color, enlarged, lipid-laden hepatocytes and Kupffer cells, microvesicular and macrovesicular steatosis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. The only definitive tests are genetic, which may be conducted in any number of ways. Screening
Because LAL deficiency is inherited, each sibling of an affected individual has a 25% chance of having pathological mutations in LAL genes from both their mother and their father, a 50% chance of having a pathological mutation in only one gene, and a 25% chance of having no pathological mutations. Genetic testing for family members and genetic prenatal diagnosis of pregnancies for women who are at increased risk are possible if family members carrying pathological mutations have been identified. Management
LAL deficiency can be treated with sebelipase alfa is a recombinant form of LAL that was approved in 2015 in the US and EU. The disease of LAL affects < 0.2 in 10,000 people in the EU. According to an estimate by a Barclays analyst, the drug will be priced at about US$375,000 per year.It is administered once a week via intraveneous infusion in people with rapidly progressing disease in the first six months of life.