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There is increasing controversy about the influence of serum paraoxonase type 1 and cytochrome CYP2C19 in the conversion of clopidogrel to its pharmaceutically active metabolite. The effect of concomitant medication with the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole has been also subject of intense scrutiny. We present a cohort of 263 patients receiving anti-platelet aggregation treatment with clopidogrel and aspirin for 1 year. The paraoxonase 1 gene Q192R variant along with the presence of CYP2C19*2 and *3 loss of function alleles, concomitant medication with proton pump inhibitors and known cardiovascular risk factors were examined to determine their influence in disease relapse due to an ischaemic event during the 12 month treatment period. The low number of patients suffering a relapse (20 out of 263), indicates that double anti-aggregation therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel was very effective in our patients. Among the relapsers, evidence of coronary heart disease was the most influencial factor affecting response to therapy, while the presence of the paraoxonase 1 Q192R variant, loss of function of CYP2C19, and concomitant medication with omeprazole were non-significant.

Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue caused by mutations in the fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene. Mutations affecting cysteine residues within the epidermal growith factor-like calcium-binding domains (EGF_CA) of FBN1 are associated with Marfan syndrome features and, especially, with ectopia lentis. We report a novel substitution, affecting the first cysteine of an EGF_CA-binding module encoded by exon 63 of FBN1 (C2571Y), in a patient presenting with typical Marfan syndrome features but without ectopia lentis. The involvement of this particular carboxi-terminal domain in bone morphogenetic protein signaling is evidenced by patterning defects in the apendicular skeleton shown by the gain of a phalange at digit 1 and the fusion of some wrist bones. Although the mutation appeared as sporadic, detailed analysis revealed that the asymptomatic father was a gonosomal mosaic, and that aproximately 25% of his body cells carry the mutation. Based on this and previous evidence on the origin of sporadic mutations, we would like to stress the importance of detailed parental genetic screening, so the risk of recurrence may be evaluated.

The patients in Gran Canaria constitute, overall, one of the largest groups of patients with WD with a high incidence of a single mutation, allowing us to define the early clinical symptoms and the evolution of the disease in patients carrying the ATP7B L708P mutant allele, and the study of WD in a genetically homogeneous background.

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