Infantile hypophosphatasia: Enzyme replacement therapy by intravenous infusion of alkaline phosphatase-rich plasma from patients with Paget bone disease

Enzyme replacement therapy for a severely affected 6-month-old girl with hypophosphatasia was attempted by repeated intravenous infusions of alkaline phosphatase-rich plasma, obtained by plasmapheresis, from two men with Paget bone disease. Circulating Paget AP activity was found to have a half-life (two days) similar to that reported in adults, which did not change during a five-week period of six AP infusions. Normalization of the patient's serum AP activity was followed by better control of her hypercalcemia and hypercalciuria. Sequential radiographic studies revealed arrest of worsening rickets with slight remineralization of metaphyses, although urinary excretion of the AP substrates phosphoethanolamine and inorganic pyrophosphate was unaltered by therapy. Our findings suggest that the infantile form of hypophosphatasia results from defective production of AP rather than from accelerated destruction of circulating enzyme, and that hydrolysis of AP substrates like PEA and PPi occurs primarily in tissues rather than blood. Study of additional cases of hypophosphatasia will be necessary to assess the clinical efficacy of this form of enzyme replacement therapy.