The morning Cuppa Coffee, with its caffeine is proving to be a simple therapy in the taming of a rare, involuntary movement disorder, that had defied treatment.

A 33-year-old patient from Bengaluru in October and an 11-year-old child from Paris in June, benefited from this fluke or chance treatment, according to scientists.

The efficacy of caffeine as a treatment of dyskinesia,caused by a mutation in the ADCY5 gene is causing waves in medical circles.

Dyskinesia refers to a family of disorders characterised by violent and involuntary muscle movements.

Caffeine is known to be against adenosine. Thus it prevents formation of excess cyclic AMP, which is responsible for the involuntary movements, by inhibiting its synthesis through blocking of adenosine receptors in the brain.

Scientists at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting (CDFD), Hyderabad presented the case of 33-year-old Ramesh (name changed) who complained of involuntary movements of the limbs and face since the age of five.

This would occur 10 to 15 times per day and last for a few minutes. They were also affecting his daily routine. Such features are termed as 'paroxysmal dyskinesia'. Alterations in more than 12 genes are known to result in this phenotype.

Since many genes needed to be tested, an advance genetic testing method, called exome sequencing analysis was done by a team led by Aswin Dalal, Head, Diagnostics Division CDFD to identify genetic basis in this patient. The sequencing revealed a mosiaic mutation in ADCYS (adenylate cyclise) gene.

Ramesh had consulted neurologist Kuldeep Shetty and medical geneticist, SJ Patil at the Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre, Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals, Bengaluru.

His condition is not very responsive to the currently available medication (like benzodiazepines, betablockers, tetrabenazine, anticholinergics etc).

The CDFD scientists, inspired by the case study in France decided to try out the coffee regimen. They found to their surprise a 90 per cent reduction in his involuntary movements within few days.

Although novel therapies are being developed for some genetic diseases, they are very expensive and and are not accessible to the public. "An accurate diagnosis of genetic disease is very important for proper management and prognosis," they said.

In June 2019, a group of scientists from France reported an unusual case. They found that in a family, the father and daughter were affected with a rare, involuntary movements. They were also having a mutation in the ADCYS gene. However, the consumption of coffee lead to a dramatic reduction of unwanted movements.

To cross check the results, they repeated the therapy on an 11-year-old boy with the similar symptoms. The boy was given three doses per day of coffee (in the form of espresso coffee).

To their utter surprise, they found that his had symptoms dropped from 30 bouts per day to one or two brief movements within few days of coffee treatment. Interestingly, the movements re-surfaced when the patient was given decaf coffee and disappeared again when caffeine containing coffee was given.

ADCY5-related dyskinesia is a roughly one-in-a-million disease, and there is no known cure. The gene in its normal state provides instructions for making an enzyme that helps to regulate muscle contraction. The mutation disrupts that process, and caffeine helps to restore.

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Coffee therapy for rare genetic disease related to violent and involuntary muscle movements - BusinessLine

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