Abstract
Congenital hyperinsulinism is a serious blood glucose regulation defect that interferes with brain development, leading to mental retardation, neurological sequelae and secondary epilepsy and ultimately may be life-threatening. Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is caused by genetic defects of regulation of insulin secretion that induce insulin oversecretion in intrauterine life and postnatally.
The clinical consequence is fetal macrosomia and subsequently neonatal and infantile hypoglycaemia. The most severe form is caused by biallelic mutations of KCNJ11 and ABCC8 genes that encode both potassium channel subunits, whereas their heterozygous mutations as well as enzymatic defects (GLUD1, HADH, GCK) lead to milder presentation.
HNF4A or HNF1A transcriptional factor defects lead to transient hyperinsulinism but to MODY diabetes later in life, due to biphasic beta-cell dysfunction starting as hyperfunction and developing via normal function to hypofunction. An early aetiological diagnosis and effective treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism substantially improves the outcome regarding not only survival but also neurocognitive functions.