MBD5-associated neurodevelopmental disorder

MBD5-associated neurodevelopmental disorder (MAND) is a condition that affects neurological and physical development.

Children with MAND have mild to severe intellectual disability and developmental delay. They often have poor coordination and do not walk until age 2 or 3. Their walking style (gait) is often unbalanced and wide-based. Language skills, both the production of speech and the ability to understand speech, are very limited in affected individuals. By age 2, most children with MAND develop recurring seizures (epilepsy). Most affected children have feeding problems due to weak muscle tone (hypotonia). Constipation also frequently occurs.

Sleep problems are common in MAND and include night terrors, waking frequently during the night, and waking early in the morning. As a result, many affected individuals are extremely tired during the day due to lack of sleep and poor-quality sleep. Most people with MAND have features similar to autism spectrum disorder, a developmental condition that affects communication and social interaction. They have a short attention span; perform repetitive hand movements (stereotypies), such as clapping, hand licking, and hand sucking; and grind their teeth.

People with MAND tend to have subtle facial features, including a broad forehead, thick and highly arched eyebrows, abnormalities of the outer ear, a short nose, a wide or depressed nasal bridge, downturned corners of the mouth, an upper lip that points outward (called a tented lip), and a full lower lip. Some affected individuals have mild skeletal abnormalities including small hands and feet, short fingers (brachydactyly), curved pinky fingers (fifth-finger clinodactyly), or a wide gap between the first and second toes (known as a sandal gap). Rarely, individuals with MAND have heart abnormalities.