Molecular Bases of Response to Copper Treatment in Menkes Disease, Related Phenotypes, and Unexplained Copper Deficiency

Menkes disease and occipital horn syndrome are two forms of copper deficiency that must be diagnosed and treated very early in life to prevent serious developmental problems. However, these and other forms of copper deficiency are not very well understood, and further research is needed to determine whether certain treatments are useful in treating copper deficiency. One such treatment is copper histidine, a copper replacement that can be injected directly into the body to avoid absorption through the gastrointestinal tract. This study will investigate the effectiveness, side effects, and dosage of copper histidine treatment for patients with copper deficiency. It will also collect medical history information from patients to allow researchers to study possible genetic and nongenetic origins of copper deficiency.

This study will include 50 subjects, all of whom will be children and adults who have been diagnosed with Menkes disease, occipital horn syndrome, or other unexplained copper deficiency.

Patients will receive a prescribed dose of copper histidine, which will be administered daily as an injection.

During the study, patients will be admitted to the NIH Clinical Center on an outpatient basis to evaluate their response to the copper histidine treatment. These evaluations will take place every 8 months, with a final evaluation performed after 3 years of treatment. During the outpatient visits, patients will be required to give blood and urine samples for testing and undergo ultrasound testing. They will also undergo brain MRI scans at the initial visit and at the 16-month and 36-month visits. Patients who agree will give additional blood samples for genetic research purposes.