Overview Dr. Fumi Urano from Washington University discussed Wolfram Syndrome clinical trials, focusing on advancing treatments from oral medications to gene editing. Wolfram Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder with a median age of onset at 6 for diabetes and 11 for optic nerve atrophy, affects 1 in 250,000 to 700,000 people. Dr. Urano highlighted the […]
Overview The meeting discussed Wolfram syndrome, focusing on its physiopathology and potential therapies. Benjamin Delprat presented his research from Inserm, Montpellier, highlighting the role of the WFS1 protein and its interaction with NCS1 and IP3R in cellular calcium transfer. He proposed gene therapy using self-complementary AAV9 vectors to overexpress NCS1 and pharmacological therapy targeting the […]
Overview Dr. Giulio Frontino and Amelia Caretto presented preliminary results from a trial on Tirzepatide monotherapy for Wolfram syndrome. The trial, involving 17 patients (including children and adults), showed stabilization of C-peptide levels in half of the patients, with a median increase of 15% over two years. Tirzepatide improved beta-cell function and reduced inflammation markers. […]
Publication: cureus.com | Publication Date: 6 May 2025 Authors: Nadia Echcharii, Nabila Chekhlabi, Amal Haoudar, Nezha Dini Abstract Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a rare, autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive multisystemic involvement, including diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, diabetes insipidus, sensorineural hearing loss, and urological dysfunction. While diabetes mellitus is typically the first clinical sign, […]
Publication: cureus.com | Publication Date: 25 October 2025 Authors: Tej P. Shah, Richard Sidlow, Prem K. Sah Abstract Wolfram syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and progressive neurodegeneration, often summarized by the acronym DIDMOAD (diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and deafness). We report a 27-year-old male with […]
Publication: frontiersin.org | Publication Date: 14 October 2025 Authors: Justin Simo, Heather M. Lugar, Elka Miller, Adi Wilf-Yarkoni, Yael Goldberg, Ayça Kocaağa, Shoichi Ito, Sirio Cocozza, Giulio Frontino, Cristina Baldoli, Aziz Benbachir, Catherine Ashton, Guy Rouleau, Tamara Hershey, Yann Nadjar, Roberta La Piana Background and Objectives Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is a genetic disorder mainly caused […]
Wolfram Syndrome Awareness Day is held on October 1st each year. This day was chosen because it is the anniversary of the publication of a 1998 paper on the discovery of the WSf1 gene associated with the syndrome. The day is dedicated to raising awareness of this rare genetic disorder, which affects the body’s metabolism, […]
On May 21, 2025, The Snow Foundation convened a group of patients (3) and caregivers (4) from across the Wolfram syndrome (WS) community for a virtual patient listening session with over 40 representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The small, informal virtual meeting was designed to allow community members to share their lived […]
Publication: onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Publication Date: 29 April 2025 Authors: Ibrar Rafique, Asif Mir, Natalija Popovic, Alix Vanpoperinghe, Muhammad Arif Nadeem Saqib, Asher Fawwad, Abdul Basit, Muhammad Naeem, Constantin Polychronakos, Angeliki Makri Abstract We examined 68 Pakistani patients with young onset diabetes and found a surprisingly high rate (4/68) of non-syndromic WFS1 diabetes, a recently described […]
First results from the TREATWOLFRAM trial, sponsored by the University of Birmingham, find sodium valproate treatment does not slow vision loss in Wolfram syndrome.