Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.4.2.8 (hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase)
 2,527 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In an effort to further understand the pathogenesis of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, an X-linked recessive disease of purine metabolism associated with a deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, we have analyzed the amino acids in autopsy brain material obtained from five patients and six controls. The amino acids glycine and glutamine serve as substrates for the synthesis of purines in man. Amino acids were measured in the occipital cortex, limbic cortical area, cerebellar cortex, hippocampus and putamen. In general the amino acids were usually lower in concentration in brain material from affected individuals. Most dramatically decreased were threonine, serine, valine, isoleucine, lysine and arginine. Only glutamine and urea were higher than controls. Glutamate, gamma-aminobutyrate and cystathionine were essentially unaffected. The data reported here do not support a role for increased glycine in the pathogenesis of this disease as implied by findings previously reported in cultured cell lines (Skaper and Seegmiller 1976, 1977). The current findings suggest that individuals with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome have a generally lower concentration of free amino acids in brain. This decrease may be involved in the etiology of the disease or the decrease may be a result of the generally malnourished state of these individuals. These results imply that affected patients have a limited supply of amino acid precursors available for the synthesis of either proteins or neurotransmitters that the brain requires for normal function. Thus, the low amino acid pools could be an important factor in the brain dysfunction observed in patients with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.
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PMID:Decreased amino acids in various brain areas of patients with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. 713 31

Lesch-Nyhan disease (LND), caused by a deficient salvage purine pathway, is characterized by severe neurological manifestations and uric acid overproduction. However, uric acid is not responsible for brain dysfunction, and it has been suggested that purine nucleotide depletion, or accumulation of other toxic purine intermediates, could be more relevant. Here we show that purine alterations in LND fibroblasts depend on the level of folic acid in the culture media. Thus, physiological levels of folic acid induce accumulation of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside 5'-monophosphate (ZMP), an intermediary of de novo purine biosynthetic pathway, and depletion of ATP. Additionally, Z-nucleotide derivatives (AICAr, AICA) are detected at high levels in the urine of patients with LND and its variants (hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase [HGprt]-related neurological dysfunction and HGprt-related hyperuricemia), and the ratio of AICAr/AICA is significantly increased in patients with neurological problems (LND and HGprt-related neurological dysfunction). Moreover, AICAr is present in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with LND, but not in control individuals. We hypothesize that purine alterations detected in LND fibroblasts may also occur in the brain of patients with LND.
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PMID:Physiological levels of folic acid reveal purine alterations in Lesch-Nyhan disease. 3243 Mar 24