Steve Bryson, PhD, science writer —

Taiwanese people with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) have a significantly altered composition of intestinal bacteria relative to their unrelated healthy family members, a new study showed. In addition, the composition of gut microbiota, or bacteria living in the intestines, was associated not only with the severity of nerve damage…

A noninvasive test that measures axonal excitability, or the processes that underlie electrical impulses along nerve fibers, could distinguish between the early and later stages of familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), a study reports. “Axonal excitability has utility to identify early and progressive nerve dysfunction in [FAP],” the researchers wrote…

Regulatory authorities in China have authorized YolTech Therapeutics to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial testing YOLT-201, a one-time gene-editing therapy, in people with hereditary transthyretin (hATTR) amyloidosis, a group of conditions that includes familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP). The approval from the National Medical Products Administration’s Center for…

Clinicians should consider familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) when they see people with unexplained progressive nerve damage, or neuropathy, especially if it’s associated with bodywide symptoms or a family history of the disease, a panel of experts said in new FAP diagnosis and treatment guidelines aimed at helping U.S. doctors better…

Diagnostic tests outside those considered standard for familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) detected FAP in 12 of 38 people who carried disease-causing mutations but were asymptomatic, or without evident FAP symptoms, a study reported. The assessment methods, which identified FAP features when standard tests did not, included modified nerve…

A committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has endorsed Onpattro (patisiran) for the treatment of the ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), or heart damage. Earlier this year, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which is developing Onpattro, submitted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to the federal agency…

Amvuttra (vutrisiran) provided significant clinical benefits in multiple measures of quality of life and physical function in people with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), according to published details of the HELIOS-A clinical trial. Benefits, which also included early gains in nutritional status, were most pronounced in those in the…

Scientists have developed a first patient-reported questionnaire on quality of life that’s specific to transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR). Called the Transthyretin Amyloidosis – Quality of Life Questionnaire (ATTR-QOL), it was created with significant patient involvement and guidance from a multidisciplinary group of clinical specialists, led by scientists with the Amyloidosis…

A newly identified mutation in the TTR gene led to various neurological and heart symptoms of ATTR amyloidosis in three older adults in Korea, a case series reported. These patients, with an average age of 77, experienced an earlier onset of nerve symptoms affecting the extremities and the autonomic nervous…

Adults with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR), a group of disorders that includes familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), lived longer after treatment with tafamidis versus undergoing a liver transplant, a study reported. However, patients treated with tafamidis experienced a faster decline in neurological and heart-related outcomes than did those who…