Restoration of adrenal steroidogenesis by adenovirus-mediated transfer of human cytochrome P450 21-hydroxylase into the adrenal gland of 21-hydroxylase-deficient mice
T. Tajima et al., Restoration of adrenal steroidogenesis by adenovirus-mediated transfer of human cytochrome P450 21-hydroxylase into the adrenal gland of 21-hydroxylase-deficient mice, GENE THER, 6(11), 1999, pp. 1898-1903
21-Hydroxylase deficiency, a potentially fatal disease due to deletions or
mutations of the cytochrome P450 21-hydroxylase gene (CYP21), causes congen
ital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) with low or absent glucocorticoid and minera
locorticoid production. The feasibility of gene therapy for CAH was studied
using 21OH-deficient mice (21OH-) and a replication-deficient adenovirus c
ontaining the genomic sequence of human CYP21 (hAdCYP21). Intra-adrenal inj
ection of hAdCYP21 in 21OH- mice induced hCYP21 mRNA with the highest expre
ssion from 2 to 7 days before a gradual decline. 21OH activity measured in
adrenal tissue increased from undetectable to levels found in wild-type mic
e 2 to 7 days after AdhCYP21 injection. Adrenal morphology of 21OH- mice sh
owed lack of zonation, and hypertropy and hyperplasia of adrenocortical mit
ochondria with few tubulovesicular christae. These morphological abnormalit
ies were markedly improved 7 days after hAdCYP21 gene therapy. Plasma corti
costerone increased from undetectable levels to values similar in wild-type
mice 7 and 14 days, declining over the next 40 days. This is the first dem
onstration that a single intra-adrenal injection of an adenoviral vector en
coding CYP21 can compensate for the biochemical, endocrine and histological
alterations in 21OH-deficient mice, and shows that gene therapy could be a
feasible option for treatment of CAH.