Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We studied 40 MELAS patients (21 male and 19 female) to characterize the clinical features and biochemical and muscle biopsy findings related to the mtDNA mutation at the nucleotide position of 3,243, the most common genetic defect in MELAS. The most frequent symptom was episodic sudden headache with vomiting and convulsions, which commonly affected patients aged 5 to 15 years (80%). Biochemical defects in the muscle were variable; 13 patients had complex I, seven complex IV, and four complexes I + IV deficiencies. In four muscle biopsies without ragged-red fibers or any enzyme defect, we based the diagnosis on the identification of strongly SDH-reactive blood vessels, which occurred in 87.5% of the biopsies. The mtDNA mutation was present in 32 of 40 patients (80%). We conclude that there are no clinical and pathologic differences between the patients with and without this mtDNA mutation.
 ...
PMID:Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS): a correlative study of the clinical features and mitochondrial DNA mutation. 154 15

A female patient who had clinical characteristics of MELAS but with no apparent muscle symptoms was reported. She was in good health until 12 years and 5 months of age when she began to have afebrile generalized tonic-clonic convulsions. Thereafter, she had repeated stroke-like episodes, including headache, vomiting, convulsions, hemiparesis and left ehemianopsia. She had neither muscle weakness, fatigability nor atrophy. Laboratory examinations disclosed elevated lactate and pyruvate levels in the serum and cerebrospinal fluids, transient focal low density areas on brain CT and right sensorineural deafness by audiometry. No ragged-red fibers (RRF) were found in the first biopsy at 13 years and 6 months of age, and two RRF-like fibers containing red granular materials in the subsarcolemnal regions in the second at 15 years and 3 months of age. A biochemical assay on the two biopsied muscles demonstrated normal enzyme activities in the mitochondrial electron transport system. She was diagnosed as having MELAS because of remarkable mitochondrial abnormalities in smooth muscle cells in the intramuscular arterioles which were clearly demonstrated by succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) stain and on electron microscopy. It was suggested that the stroke-like episodes in this patient were induced by a preferential damage to the mitochondria in the blood vessel walls. Thus, we conclude that a simple method of identifying the strongly SDH-reactive blood vessels (SSV) in frozen sections is critical in supporting or making diagnosis of MELAS.
 ...
PMID:[MELAS without ragged-red fibers: a case report]. 176 Feb 9

We report a 9 year-old boy with MELAS. High dosed oral thiamine administration and high fat diet induced remarkable neurological and biochemical improvement. His mother had episodic headaches and hemiplegia, probably MELAS. He complained muscle weakness and repeated episodes of vomiting started from 2 years of age. High levels of serum lactate and pyruvate were recognized, but with no metabolic acidosis. He developed generalized muscle weakness, growth retardation, generalized convulsions and stroke-like episodes at 5 years old. Optic nerve atrophy and mental retardation gradually appeared. A muscle biopsy at 5 years old revealed numerous ragged-red fibers with excess accumulation of lipid droplets and glycogen particles. Scattered fibers had no cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) activity representing focal CCO deficiency. An electron microscopy showed markedly increased number of giant mitochondria filled with markedly proliferated complicated cristae. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex level in the fibroblasts was within normal ranges. Serum carnitine level was normal. With oral administration of thiamine hydrochloride (1000 mg) and high fat diet (60-70%), muscle weakness improved, and lactate and pyruvate levels in the serum reduced to normal ranges, whereas the mental deterioration, muscle atrophy, pes cavus progressed very slowly. He died from cardiac and renal failures at 9 years old. Autopsied muscles showed a marked decrease in cytochrome c oxidase activity (biochemically 12.8% of the normal level), and almost all muscle fibers had no cytochrome c oxidase activity histochemically. The progression of the MELAS was probably in parallel with the decrease in CCO activity.
 ...
PMID:[A case of MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes) with progressive cytochrome c oxidase deficiency]. 255 13

The case of 12 years-old boy with seizures, headache, severe vomit and focal neurological signs is reported. These episodes had several recurrences and regression with little neurologic deficits. In the investigation it was found: lactic acidosis; stroke like episodes and calcification in the basal ganglia on computerized axial tomography; ragged red fibers on muscle biopsy and decreased of cytochrome C oxidase in the muscle tissue. A revision about mitochondrial disorders with involvement of the central nervous system and muscle is made, with emphasis on diagnosis and recognition of MELAS.
 ...
PMID:[MELAS (mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes): report of a case]. 283 Aug 68

The clinical manifestations and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in a Taiwanese family with a female proband exhibiting mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes syndrome are reported. Clinically, the proband had a stroke-like episode with right hemiparesis, hemianopsia and mental dysfunction as well as short stature, hearing impairments, and elevated lactate levels. Brain magnetic resonance images showed multiple increased signal intensities over the left frontal, parietal and temporal areas. There were no ragged-red fibers, but paracrystalline inclusion bodies were shown in the muscle biopsies under electron microscopic examination. A deficiency of NADH-CoQ reductase was also found in biochemical studies of the muscles. The family survey revealed no abnormal findings except for headache and episodic vomiting in her mother. The molecular analysis of mtDNA disclosed a mutation from A to G at the nucleotide pair 3243 of the mitochondrial transfer RNA(Leu) gene in the blood, hair follicles and/or muscle of the maternal relatives. A characteristic finding of the MELAS family is variation of percentage of mutated mtDNA in various tissues and individuals. However, a higher proportion of mutated mtDNA was noted in the proband than that in the asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic family members. From the data, the variable clinical phenotypes in this MELAS family can be explained at least partly, by the different proportions of mutant mtDNA in the target tissues of the proband and maternal relatives.
 ...
PMID:MELAS syndrome: correlation between clinical features and molecular genetic analysis. 788 36

The clinical manifestations of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy are described in four generations of a single kindred. The age of onset of major neurological disturbance varied from 3-70 years. In some patients, deafness was the only manifestation; in others, recurrent bouts of status epilepticus associated with focal neurological deficits and headache, caused severe disability or death. Examples of all three adult forms of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy: MELAS, MERFF and Kearns Sayre syndrome, were represented within the kindred. Associated features included deafness, short stature, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, migraine, peptic ulceration and severe constipation. The nt 3243 A-G MELAS mutation was detected in two members of the kindred. This study highlights the diversity of clinical expression of a mitochondrial mutation within a single kindred.
 ...
PMID:Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy: variable clinical expression within a single kindred. 835 Jan 9

We describe a 42-year-old woman with overlapping syndrome of MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes) and MERRF (myoclonus epilepsy and ragged-red fibers). Clinically, she had episodic headache, stroke-like episode with left hemiparesis and lactic acidosis commonly found in MELAS syndrome. However, myoclonus seizure, and ataxia with dyssynergic gait characteristic of MERRF were also noted. Computed tomographic scans showed a right temporo-parietal hypodense lesion. The lesion disappeared 20 months later, even magnetic resonance images also failed to reveal this abnormality. A molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA was conducted by using restriction endonucleases ApaI and NaeI. A transition from A to G was found at the nucleotide position 3243, but not found at the 8344th nucleotide pair. In this report, we document the fluctuating CT changes and emphasize the importance of molecular analysis in patients with overlapping syndrome of mitochondrial encephalomyopathies.
 ...
PMID:Overlapping syndrome of MERRF and MELAS: molecular and neuroradiological studies. 835 81

Migraine and the MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes) syndrome have some clinical features in common. First, cerebral infarctions, most often in the posterior cerebral regions, which are a main symptom of MELAS, may complicate migraine. Second, migrainous headache with vomiting is also a characteristic feature of the MELAS syndrome. Less frequently, hemicranial headache is present in another mitochondrial disease, myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRF). Moreover, there is a mild bias toward maternal transmission in migraine. Apart from clinical resemblance, there is some experimental evidence for mitochondrial dysfunction in migraine. There may be depression of respiratory chain enzyme activity in muscle and platelets, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy has revealed a defective energy metabolism in brain and muscle of migraine patients. There has not been a systematic study of mitochondrial DNA in migraine, however. We therefore analyzed the mitochondrial DNA in lymphocytes of 23 migraine patients with aura. Southern blot and polymerase chain reaction analysis of mitochondrial DNA failed to detect any large-scale deletions or point mutations at base pair 3243 (MELAS) and base pair 8344 (MERRF). Our data show that deletions of mitochondrial DNA and the most frequent point mutations of MELAS and MERRF syndromes are not common in migraine with aura. In particular, these data do not support the hypothesis that some cases of migraine may be monosymptomatic forms of a MELAS syndrome. We cannot exclude, however, that migraine may be associated with different point mutations of mitochondrial DNA or with mutations of autosomally coded respiratory chain subunit genes.
 ...
PMID:Mitochondrial DNA in migraine with aura. 864 80

A 25-year-old man developed nausea, vomiting, severe headache, and confusion. He had a past history of hyperuricemia and mild renal dysfunction. On admission he had somatic growth retardation, hypertrichosis, and bilateral auditory impairment. A cranial CT scan showed a small area of low density in the left temporal lobe and cerebellar atrophy. Five days later, he developed right homonymous hemianopia, sensory aphasia, and sensory inattention, and a new, large area of low density in the left occipital lobe on a cranial CT scan. On laboratory examination, lactate, pyruvate, and the lactate-to-pyruvate ratio were elevated in both the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. The biopsied muscle showed ragged red fibers and strongly SDH-reactive blood vessels. Gene analysis revealed the presence of the A 3243 G point mutation of the mitochondrial tRNA(Leu) gene in his blood leucocytes and muscle. Serum concentrations of BUN and creatinine were elevated to 46 mg/dl and 2.2 mg/dl, respectively. Creatinine clearance was 14.1 ml/min. An abdominal CT scan disclosed atrophy of his left kidney with subcapsular calcification and the findings of his abdominal ultrasonography were compatible with chronic renal failure. His mother, who suffered from renal failure and became dialysis dependent in her late forties also bore the A 3243 G mutation of the mitochondrial tRNA(Leu) gene in her circulating leucocytes. Though the association between MELAS and renal dysfunction still remains obscure, we speculate that renal failure can be a manifestation of MELAS.
 ...
PMID:[Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) with chronic renal failure: report of mother-child cases]. 897 30

Diabetes mellitus associated with mitochondrial tRNA mutation at position 3243(DM-Mt3243) is a new disease. Patients have a distinctly different picture from MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes). During observations at the Saiseikai Central Hospital, the following findings were noted in DM-Mt3243 patients: DM-Mt3243 patients are diagnosed earlier with diabetes, compared to NIDDM (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) controls without family history. DM-Mt3243 patients often need insulin more often than NIDDM controls without family history. Post-treatment neuropathy and insulin edema are often found in DM-Mt3243, and the two phenomena possibly have a similar pathophysiology related to mitochondrial dysfunction. Ambiguous psychiatric disorders of functional psychosis are observed frequently in DM-Mt3243. Mild headache is common in DM-Mt3243 cases. Ambiguous neuromuscular abnormalities such as sleep disturbance, paresthesia of the legs, edema of the legs, and palpitation may be symptoms associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in DM-Mt3243. Coenzyme Q may be effective in the relief of these neuromuscular symptoms.
 ...
PMID:Diabetes mellitus associated with 3243 mitochondrial tRNA(Leu(UUR)) mutation: clinical features and coenzyme Q10 treatment. 926 20


1 2 3 Next >>