Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0013362 (dysarthria)
 3,768 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 47-year-old man with a 15-year history of bipolar disorder treated with anti-depressants, lithium carbonate or neuroleptics was admitted because of marked difficulty in gait and speech. At the age 45, he was unable to walk without bilateral assists and became a wheel-chair state. There was no family history and his mother, father and younger sister were neurologically free. General physical examinations revealed no abnormalities. Neurologically, he was moderately demented (mini mental state examination: 18/30) and showed bilateral horizontal gaze nystagmus, parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria and moderate spastic paraparesis. No involuntary movements were noted. Wet blood smear showed acanthocytes, while blood chemistries revealed no abnormalities including levels of serum creatine kinase, hepatic enzymes and blood beta-lipoprotein. Kell antigen expressions of the red blood cells were within normal limit. Western blot analysis with anti-chorein antibody detected normal chorein expression levels of the red blood cells. Cranial MRI showed severe symmetric atrophy of the frontotemporal lobes, caudate nuclei, putamen, and brainstem. Also, MRI-gradient echo showed symmetric iron accumulation in the medial portion of the globus pallidus without surrounding high intensity areas, so called "eye-of-the-tiger sign". Genetic analyses revealed no mutations in the PANK2 and PLA2G6 genes. Therefore, he was diagnosed as idiopathic neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). These findings suggest that NBIA is heterogeneous and other additional genes remain to be found.
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PMID:[Adult-onset case of idiopathic neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation without mutations in the PANK2 and PLA2G6 genes]. 1982 96

Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) is a hereditary progressive disorder and the most frequent form of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). PKAN patients present with a progressive movement disorder, dysarthria, cognitive impairment and retinitis pigmentosa. In magnetic resonance imaging, PKAN patients exhibit the pathognonomic "eye of the tiger" sign in the globus pallidus which corresponds to iron accumulation and gliosis as shown in neuropathological examinations. The discovery of the disease causing mutations in PANK2 has linked the disorder to coenzyme A (CoA) metabolism. PANK2 is the only one out of four PANK genes encoding an isoform which localizes to mitochondria. At least two other NBIA genes (PLA2G6, C19orf12) encode proteins that share with PANK2 a mitochondrial localization and all are suggested to play a role in lipid homeostasis. With no causal therapy available for PKAN until now, only symptomatic treatment is possible. A multi-centre retrospective study with bilateral pallidal deep brain stimulation in patients with NBIA revealed a significant improvement of dystonia. Recently, studies in the PANK Drosophila model "fumble" revealed improvement by the compound pantethine which is hypothesized to feed an alternate CoA biosynthesis pathway. In addition, pilot studies with the iron chelator deferiprone that crosses the blood brain barrier showed a good safety profile and some indication of efficacy. An adequately powered randomized clinical trial will start in 2012. This review summarizes clinical presentation, neuropathology and pathogenesis of PKAN.
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PMID:Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration. 2251 41

The Neuroaxonal Dystrophies (NADs) are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative conditions. These disorders show the unique pathological feature of neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD): axonal swelling (spheroids) localized throughout the central nervous and peripheral nervous systems. NADs are also morphologically characterized by iron accumulation in the basal ganglia; and are now included in the group of diseases called neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). NADs comprise two main diseases: pantothenate-kinase associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) and infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD). PKAN in caused by mutation in the PANK-2 gene. In classic PKAN onset of disease is in the first decade and patients show dystonia, rigidity and dysarthria; course is progressive leading to loss of autonomous gait within 15 years. In atypical PKAN age at onset is later and progression slower. Psychiatric symptoms, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and tourettism may be prominent. In classic INAD patients present with psychomotor regression between 6 months-3 years, followed by neurological deterioration leading to tetraparesis, optic atrophy, and dementia. Atypical NAD refers to all patients who differ from the classical phenotype in term of age at onset and disease progression. Mutations in PLA2G6 gene are found both in classic and atypical INAD patients.
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PMID:Axonal dystrophies. 2362 15