Plasma Level of Pyrophosphate Is Low in Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum Owing to Mutations in the ABCC6 Gene, but It Does Not Correlate with ABCC6 Genotype

BACKGROUND: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), a monogenic disorder resulting in calcification affecting the skin, eyes and peripheral arteries, is caused by mutations in the ABCC6 gene, and is associated with low plasma inorganic pyrophosphate (PP i). It is unknown how ABCC6 genotype affects plasma PP i.

METHODS: We studied the association of ABCC6 genotype (192 patients with biallelic pathogenic ABCC6 mutations) and PP i levels, and its association with the severity of arterial and ophthalmological phenotypes. ABCC6 variants were classified as truncating or non-truncating, and three groups of the 192 patients were formed: those with truncating mutations on both chromosomes ( n = 121), those with two non-truncating mutations ( n = 10), and a group who had one truncating and one non-truncating ABCC6 mutation ( n = 61). The hypothesis formulated before this study was that there was a negative association between PP i level and disease severity.

RESULTS: Our findings confirm low PP i in PXE compared with healthy controls (0.53 ± 0.15 vs. 1.13 ± 0.29 µM, p < 0.01). The PP i of patients correlated with increasing age (β: 0.05 µM, 95% CI: 0.03-0.06 per 10 years) and was higher in females (0.55 ± 0.17 vs. 0.51 ± 0.13 µM in males, p = 0.03). However, no association between PP i and PXE phenotypes was found. When adjusted for age and sex, no association between PP i and ABCC6 genotype was found.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the relationship between ABCC6 mutations and reduced plasma PP i may not be as direct as previously thought. PP i levels varied widely, even in patients with the same ABCC6 mutations, further suggesting a lack of direct correlation between them, even though the ABCC6 protein-mediated pathway is responsible for ~60% of this metabolite in the circulation. We discuss potential factors that may perturb the expected associations between ABCC6 genotype and PP i and between PP i and disease severity. Our findings support the argument that predictions of pathogenicity made on the basis of mutations (or on the structure of the mutated protein) could be misleading.