Brief CommunicationX-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) deficiency: The spectrum of presenting manifestations beyond hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

- Clinical manifestations other than HLH are frequent in XIAP deficiency
- Particularly Crohn-like disease is a key manifestation
- Neither protein expression nor mutation analysis allows prediction of the clinical course
- Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is curative, albeit hazardous

X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) deficiency caused by mutations in BIRC4 was initially described in patients with X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP) who had no mutations in SH2D1A. In the initial reports, EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) was the predominant clinical phenotype. Among 25 symptomatic patients diagnosed with XIAP deficiency, we identified 17 patients who initially presented with manifestations other than HLH. These included Crohn-like bowel disease (n = 6), severe infectious mononucleosis (n = 4), isolated splenomegaly (n = 3), uveitis (n = 1), periodic fever (n = 1), fistulating skin abscesses (n = 1) and severe Giardia enteritis (n = 1). Subsequent manifestations included celiac-like disease, antibody deficiency, splenomegaly and partial HLH. Screening by flow cytometry identified 14 of 17 patients in our cohort. However, neither genotype nor protein expression nor results from cell death studies were clearly associated with the clinical phenotype. Only mutation analysis can reliably identify affected patients. XIAP deficiency must be considered in a wide range of clinical presentations.