Severe diarrhea in a 10‐year‐old girl with Aicardi–Goutières syndrome due to IFIH1 gene mutation

Abstract

Interferon‐induced with helicase C domain 1 (IFIH1) is a cytosolic sensor of dsRNA that induces an anti‐viral Type I interferon (IFN) state. A gain‐of‐function mutation in IFIH1 can cause increased Type I IFN activity and is clinically associated with Aicardi–Goutières syndrome (AGS). AGS is a multisystem disease, characterized as an early‐onset progressive encephalopathy with basal ganglia calcification and systemic lupus erythematosus‐like features. Gastrointestinal manifestation is rare in AGS patients. We described a 10‐year‐old female patient with a heterozygous IFIH1 gene mutation who presented with gastrointestinal colitis, cystitis and very severe diarrhea as initial major manifestations of AGS. Proteinuria with high titer of antinuclear antibody and anti‐double‐stranded DNA was found in this patient. She also had growth retardation and a history of seizures (about two episodes each year) but without attacks until 7\u2009years old. Serum cytokines detected by flow cytometry indicated extremely high level of interleukin 6 (1970.1 pg/ml) and IFN‐α (204.1 pg/ml). A contrast‐enhanced CT scan of the whole abdomen and an intestinal hydro‐MRI indicated that the walls of her stomach, small bowel, colon, and bladder were in various degrees of edema and thickened states. Whole exome sequencing analysis indicated that she harbors an IFIH1 heterozygous mutation (c.2336G\u2009>\u2009A (p.R779H)) in both blood and intestinal samples. Abundant inflammatory cells infiltration into the intestinal epithelium was observed by immunohistochemical staining. Positive staining of caspase 4 and caspase 5 suggested that the signaling pathway of pyroptosis was involved in the mechanism of intestinal inflammation in AGS. Diarrhea was significantly improved after steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin treatments. Gastrointestinal colitis and cystitis can be rare manifestations of AGS with IFIH1 mutation. Caspase and its related inflammasome pathway may involve in the pathogenesis of AGS.