Investigating glucose metabolism in children with Williams-Beuren syndrome: A case study on WBS and DKA
Abstract
Objective: More attention should be paid to glucose metabolism in children with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). Methods: The clinical data of a child diagnosed with WBS due to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) were retrospectively analyzed, and the related literature was reviewed. Results: An 8-year-old boy presented with thickened upper lip, low palatal arch, strong heart sound, rumbling murmur in the apex area, a little pigmentation in the webbed margin of fingers and toes, and atypical elfin features. Blood gas analysis showed severe ketoacidosis with significantly elevated amylase, significantly increased amylase, elevated blood lipids, abnormal thyroid function, negative C-peptide, diabetic. Echocardiography showed supravalvular aortic stenosis and abnormal continental valve. The large copy number variation of the nuclear genome revealed a heterozygous variation in the 7q11.23 region, with a 1.4 Mb deletion in the 7q11.23 region, and the related gene in the region was elastin gene. Conclusion: DKA was reported for the first time as the first symptom of WBS diabetes. The mechanism of concurrent DKA in WBS is not well understood.
References
1. Pober BR. Williams-Beuren Syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine. 2010; 362(3): 239-252. doi: 10.1056/nejmra0903074
2. Wood H. Remyelinating drug to the rescue in a Williams syndrome model. Nature Reviews Neurology. 2019; 15(7): 368-369. doi: 10.1038/s41582-019-0201-5
3. Levy‐Shraga Y, Gothelf D, Pinchevski‐Kadir S, et al. Endocrine manifestations in children with Williams-Beuren syndrome. Acta Paediatrica. 2018; 107(4): 678-684. doi: 10.1111/apa.14198
4. Lam PPL, Leung YM, Sheu L, et al. Transgenic Mouse Overexpressing Syntaxin-1A as a Diabetes Model. Diabetes. 2005; 54(9): 2744-2754. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.54.9.2744
5. Pasyk EA, Kang Y, Huang X, et al. Syntaxin-1A Binds the Nucleotide-binding Folds of Sulphonylurea Receptor 1 to Regulate the KATP Channel. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2004; 279(6): 4234-4240. doi: 10.1074/jbc.m309667200
6. Iizuka K, Bruick RK, Liang G, et al. Deficiency of carbohydrate response element-binding protein (ChREBP) reduces lipogenesis as well as glycolysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2004; 101(19): 7281-7286. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0401516101
7. Herman MA, Peroni OD, Villoria J, et al. A novel ChREBP isoform in adipose tissue regulates systemic glucose metabolism. Nature. 2012; 484(7394): 333-338. doi: 10.1038/nature10986
8. DeMarsilis AJ. Elastin Insufficiency Predisposes Mice to Impaired Glucose Metabolism. Journal of Molecular and Genetic Medicine. 2014; 08(03). doi: 10.4172/1747-0862.1000129
9. Güven A. Seven cases with Williams-Beuren syndrome: endocrine evaluation and long-term follow-up. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2017; 30(2). doi: 10.1515/jpem-2016-0039
10. Shaikh S, Waxler JL, Lee H, et al. Glucose and lipid metabolism, bone density, and body composition in individuals with Williams syndrome. Clinical Endocrinology. 2018; 89(5): 596-604. doi: 10.1111/cen.13829
11. Lunati ME, Bedeschi MF, Resi V, et al. Impaired glucose metabolism in subjects with the Williams-Beuren syndrome: A five-year follow-up cohort study. Cras-Méneur C, ed. PLOS ONE. 2017; 12(10): e0185371. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185371
12. Pober BR, Wang E, Caprio S, et al. High prevalence of diabetes and pre‐diabetes in adults with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics. 2010; 154C(2): 291-298. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.c.30261
13. Masserini B, Bedeschi MF, Bianchi V, et al. Prevalence of diabetes and pre‐diabetes in a cohort of Italian young adults with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A. 2013; 161(4): 817-821. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.35655
14. Takeuchi D, Furutani M, Harada Y, et al. High prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents with Williams-Beuren syndrome. BMC Pediatrics. 2015; 15(1). doi: 10.1186/s12887-015-0445-1
15. Stagi S, Lapi E, Cecchi C, et al. Williams-Beuren Syndrome Is a Genetic Disorder Associated with Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Diabetes in Childhood and Adolescence: New Insights from a Longitudinal Study. Hormone Research in Paediatrics. 2014; 82(1): 38-43. doi: 10.1159/000360476
Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright on all articles published in this journal is retained by the author(s), while the author(s) grant the publisher as the original publisher to publish the article.
Articles published in this journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which means they can be shared, adapted and distributed provided that the original published version is cited.