Niasse M, Kane B.S, Condé K, Touré S, Sarr L, Diouf C, Diallo S. Multiple Exostosis Journal of Disease. J Rare Dis Res Treat. (2019) 4(2): 28-33 Rare Diseases Research www.rarediseasesjournal.com & Treatment Mini Review Open Access Multiple Exostosis Disease Moustapha Niasse1*, Baïdy Sy Kane2, Kaba Condé3, Silly Touré4, Lamine Sarr5, Coumba Diouf1, Saïdou Diallo1 1Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar, Senegal 2Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar, Senegal 3Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Ignace Deen of Conakry, Guinea 4Department of Stomatology and Maxillofacial surgery, University Hospital Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar, Senegal 5Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar, Senegal Article Info ABSTRACT Article Notes Multiple exostosis disease is one of the hereditary diseases with autosomal Received: April 19, 2019 dominant transmission. It is characterized by the proliferation of bone Accepted: May 7, 2019 protuberances, especially located in the metaphysis of long bones. *Correspondence: Since 1993, advances have been noted in knowledge of the pathophysiology Dr. Niasse Moustapha, Department of Rheumatology, of this disease, in particular with the discovery of the mutation of EXT genes, University Hospital Aristide Le Dantec of Dakar, Senegal; found in 80% of multiple exostosis disease. These genes, tumor suppressors, Email: [email protected]. code for proteins involved in the synthesis of heparan sulfates. The deficiency in © 2019Moustapha N. This article is distributed under the terms quantity and quality of heparan sulfates leads to changes in certain metabolic of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. processes, which leads to the development of ectopic growth plaques. This is responsible for the development of exostosis, but also for the low longitudinal Keywords growth of long bones. The disease phenotype may also associate abnormalities Multiple exostosis disease Heparan sulfates in the shape and length of long bones, such as the typical “Bessel Hagen” EXT genes deformity. Clinically, bone masses are often painless. The rare complication (2 Bone exostosis to 5% of cases) but the most feared is the transformation into chondrosarcoma, Chondrocytes which motivates regular clinical and radiological monitoring of these patients. Treatment, mainly surgical, is indicated in case of symptoms (pain, increased exostosis volume after the end of growth, compression of neighboring organs. Introduction Multiple exostosis disease, first described by French surgeon Alexis Boyer2 in 1814, 1is a rare genetic disease with autosomal dominant transmission . There is a family history in 2about 60% of cases . Exostosis is composed of bone tissue with a peripheral cortex, central spongy bone, and a cartilaginous cap . All bones developing 3by endochondral ossification can be affected (long bones, vertebrae, medial portion of the clavicle and bone of the base of the3 skull) . Bones that develop by membrane ossification are not affected (flat bones, lateral portion of the clavicle), except in special. cases . Exostosis develops during childhood. They stabilize with4 progressiveEpidemiology regression of the cartilage cap after the end of growth . Multiple exostosis disease is a rare condition with 5,an 6 estimated prevalence of 1/500,0007, 8 in the western population It is less reported in North Africa . In sub-Saharan Africa, only 20 observations to our9, 10,knowledge 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, were 15 described between 1999 and 2018Physiopathology (table below) Genetic Multiple exostosis disease is associated with a mutation of the Page 28 of 33 Niasse M, Kane B.S, Condé K, Touré S, Sarr L, Diouf C, Diallo S. Multiple Exostosis Journal of Rare Diseases Research & Treatment Disease. J Rare Dis Res Treat. (2019) 4(2): 28-33 Table 1. Summary table of cases of multiple exostosis disease reported in Sub-Saharan Africa. AUTHORS YEAR COUNTRY NUMBER OF CASES The distribution of Ihh in the growth plate is dependent Govender S [9] 1999 South Africa 2 on the concentration of heparan sulfate: the mutation of Bamba I 10] 2002 Ivory Coast 1 EXT1 induces an increase in the diffusion zone of Ihh with Ntsiba H [11] 2002 Congo 4 extension towards the perichondrium. Moreover, Ihh27 causes Dao F [12] 2013 Burkina 1 an increase in chondrocyte proliferation and a decrease Diallo S [13] 2016 1 in differentiation into hypertrophic chondrocytes . This Niasse M [14] 2018 Senegal 10 may be related to the fact that heparan sulfate can bind Bukara E [15] 2018 Rwanda 1 to Hedgehog ligands and modulate their diffusion in the extracellular medium: the decrease of heparan sulfate concentration would lead to a decrease in. the possibility 16 of ligand binding and activation of the Hedgehog28 signal in genes EXT1 (chromosome17 8q23-q24) and/or EXT2 patients with multiple exostosis disease (chromosome 11p11-p13) , found in 80% to 90% of cases. An EXT3 gene (chromosome 19) has also been Heparan sulfates would limit the diffusion zone of Wnt (a major actor in bone and cartilage 28formation) by facilitating described, but its responsibility for18 the development of the disease remains to be determined . EXT genes are tumor the binding of Wnt to its receptor . Thus, the action of the suppressors: the loss of heterozygosity related to their Wnt signal is reduced compared to healthy. individuals, which could partly explain the abnormalities28, 29in the organization of mutation would19 be an inductive event in the development the growth plate in affected patients of exostosis . These genes code for 20,transmembrane 21 type II glycoproteins, exostosin2, 21 1 and 2 , which have For the FGF signal, the decrease in heparan sulfate glycosyltransferase action . These two proteins, mainly concentration results in a marked decrease in the activation. located in the endoplasmic reticulum form a Golgi- of the MAP kinase pathway, which are intracellular29 localized heterooligomeric complex that catalyzes the mediators essential to the metabolic pathway of FGF polymerization of heparan sulfate (HS). The analysis of BMP receptors and BMP expression The consensus would be that exostosin 1 would have in the cartilage layer of exostoses is similar to the the most important synthesis activity and exostosin 2 rates found in the. growth plate. This could explain the would stabilize the heterodimer in the Golgi apparatus. presence of a prolonged30 proliferation of exostosis in The mutation of the EXT1 and EXT2 genes is therefore affected patients responsible for the decrease in the concentration of The 2 presence of heparanase has been identified in heparan sulfates. Moreover, the exostosis biopsy study of disease . exostosis chondrocytes of patients with multiple exostosis patients with multiple exostosis 2disease showed a higher concentration in heparanase cartilage compared22, to 23. healthy controls and solitary exostosis . This also suggests an Finally, the position in the growth plate of mutated Consequenceincrease in the degradationof heparan sulfateof heparan deficiency sulfates chondrocytes could be important in the development of exostosis. In a zebrafish model, the implantation of mutated chondrocytes dak-/- (equivalent to EXT) in apoptosisDuring2 the chondrocyte maturation phase, chondrocytes the center of the growth plate is without consequence: go through the prehypertrophic, hypertrophic and then enter. the mutated cells are placed in the regular columns, . They are organized in regular columns in2, 24 the “reoriented” by the adjacent normal cells. Inversely, by metaphysis allowing longitudinal growth of long bones implanting these same mutated cells on the periphery of the growth plate, dak-/-31 chondrocytes grow perpendicular Heparan sulfate chains have a co-receptor role in many to the growth plate . This observation highlights the role metabolic pathways, such as Fibroblast Growth Factor . of the cartilage-perichondrium transition zone in the (FGF), Tumor Growth Factor (TGF), Bone Morphogenetic25 development of bone exostosis and may partly32 explain the Protein (BMP), Wnt, Indian Hedgehog (Ihhh), PTHrp . absence of development of intracartilage lesions, such as The integrity of these signaling pathways is essential for enchondromesDiagnosis in presence of EXT mutations the different phases of chondrocyte maturation 24at the growth plate during endochondral ossification . The Positive diagnosis pathophysiological hypothesis is that the decrease in HS on the surface of chondrocytes would slow down their differentiation into hypertrophic chondrocytes, giving The diagnosis of multiple exostosis disease is often them a proliferation advantage at the same time. This. early. It is performed in the majority of cases before the proliferation would lead to a lack of ossification of the26 age of 5 years, because of the accessible5, 8 nature of the bone perichondrium, explaining the growth of ectopic cartilage masses, which are however painless . The most frequent Page 29 of 33 Niasse M, Kane B.S, Condé K, Touré S, Sarr L, Diouf C, Diallo S. Multiple Exostosis Journal of Rare Diseases Research & Treatment Disease. J Rare Dis Res Treat. (2019) 4(2): 28-33 locations are mainly active metaphyses of bones developing structures14, 33 such as the spinal cord, lungs, heart or urogenital by endochondral ossification: mainly in the distal femur, organs (Figure 2). fibula and proximal tibia, proximal humerus (Figure 1). Patients are