“PKU TALKS: THE EXPERT’S VOICE” is the periodical column on Phenylketonuria, created by Piam in collaboration with some of the major international specialists.
Today an interview with Dr. Alberto Burlina, Director of the Inborn Errors of Metabolism Complex Operating Unit of the Padua Hospital, Director of the Regional Centre for Inborn Errors of Metabolism of the Veneto Region and of the Regional Extended Neonatal Screening Program for Inborn Errors of Metabolism, which during the annual meeting SIMMESN 2019 (Italian Society of Inborn Error of Metabolism and Neonatal Screening) commented on the Lunch Session sponsored by Piam, concerning new frontiers in the treatment of Phenylketonuria and the impact of new therapies on the quality of life of patients with PKU.
“Could you make a short comment on the topic of Piam’s lunch session?
At the Lunch Session sponsored by Piam during the annual meeting of SIMMESN (Italian society of Inborn Error of Metabolism and Neonatal Screening), various topics have been discussed such as new frontiers for treatment of PKU: the possibility to treat PKU in a new way using LNAA (Large Neutral Amino Acids) as medical food for the long-term treatment of the disease, the value of the tyrosine in the management of PKU and the new frontiers regarding the microbiota.
Other important topics were the adherence to the diet and the quality of life of the patients.
In fact, PKU patients need easy products to get better adherence and to increase their quality of life.
In the next future, what would you expect to be the most likely advance in PKU management?
The future treatments for PKU will depend on the patient’s age and on the severity of the disease: future treatments will be focused on the patients, as we have to find the best product for each patient. This is called “personalized medicine”.”