A second MNGIE patient without typical mitochondrial skeletal muscle involvement

Mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy (MNGIE) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding thymidine phosphorylase (TYMP). Clinically, MNGIE is characterized by gastrointestinal dysmotility, cachexia, ptosis, ophthalmoparesis, peripheral neuropathy and leukoencephalopathy. Most MNGIE patients have signs of mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle at morphological and enzyme level, as well as mitochondrial DNA depletion, multiple deletions and point mutations. A case without mitochondrial skeletal muscle involvement and with a TYMP splice-acceptor site mutation (c. 215-1 G > C) has been reported. Here, we describe an Italian patient with the same mutation and without mitochondrial skeletal muscle involvement, suggesting a possible genotype-phenotype correlation.