Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0026827 (hypotonia)
 5,860 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A female infant with neonatal hypotonia and lethargy was found to have nonketotic hyperglycinemia. She died at the age of 5 days. Autopsy revealed slightly retarded myelination and severe spongy change in the well-myelinated areas of the brain. Analysis of this and the other 26 reported cases suggests that patients with nonketotic hyperglycinemia develop severe mental retardation, not seen in ketotic hyperglycinemia. Elevated glycine levels in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid appear to differentiate these two forms of hyperglycinemia better than the presence of ketosis or leukopenia, and high glycine levels apparently occur in the same areas as the spongy change. While both forms show defective glycine cleavage in the liver, defective glycine cleavage in the brain has been reported only in nonketotic hyperglycinemia.
 ...
PMID:Nonketotic hyperglycinemia: report of a case and review of the clinical, chemical, and pathological changes. 61 56

Four adolescents or young adults with the Prader-Willi syndrome (hypotonia, mental retardation, hypogonadism and obesity) received a protein-sparing modified fast consisting of 1.5 g of meat protein per kilogram of ideal body weight and meeting vitamin, mineral and fluid requirements. Evaluation of nitrogen and energy metabolism revealed the development of starvation ketosis and a positive nitrogen balance. Serial whole-body potassium measurements in two patients confirmed preservation of lean tissue despite continuing loss of weight. Clinical diabetes mellitus in two subjects was rapidly ameliorated by the regimen. Short-term weight loss greater than 18 kg occurred in three of the four subjects, and reduced weight persisted during observation periods of 26 to 44 months. This degree of outpatient diet adherence by mentally deficient subjects, who do not normally experience satiety, suggests that hunger is eliminated or at least reduced by modified, protein-sparing fasting.
 ...
PMID:Metabolic aspects of a protein-sparing modified fast in the dietary management of Prader-Willi obesity. 84 Feb 78

Organic acidurias are congenital errors of the intermediate metabolism caused by a specific metabolic defect which gives rise to an anomalous excretion of carboxilic acids. The majority of these disease appear in the first weeks of life with few specific symptoms as hypotonia, lethargy, coma, seizures, vomits and dehydration. From biochemical point of view the findings of metabolic acidosis, ketosis, and hyperamoniemia are common. Frequently clinical symptoms are precipitated by infectious disease, traumatism or stress situations. The treatment applied in the initial phases may be efficient; for this reason diagnostic and early treatment are necessary for avoid irreversible sequelae. The diagnosis is also important for posterior genetic counseling. Organic acidurias are an interesting field of work for the pediatrician, neuropediatrician, biochemist and dietician to offer new perspectives in the diagnosis and treatment of many congenital errors of the metabolism.
 ...
PMID:[Organic aciduria. Forms of presentation and treatment]. 372 91

By means of gas chromatographic methods substantial amounts of the C6-C10-dicarboxylic acids, i.e. adipic, suberic and sebacic acids, have been found in the urine from children with unexplained attacks of lethargy and hypotonia, presumably related to episodes of fever and/or insufficient food intake. The course have once been fatal and is often characterized by severe hypoglycemia without ketonuria. Systematic gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric determinations of selected organic acid metabolites in the urine, together with enzymatic measurements in fibroblasts and clinical data from 4 patients of this category, have shown that the biochemical basis of this syndrome can be inborn errors of the beta-oxidation of fatty acids, localized to the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenation system. The biosynthesis of adipic, suberic and sebacic acids was studied using ketotic rats as the model, since ketosis in rats and humans is accompanied by excessive urinary excretion of adipic and suberic acids. A probable pathway for the production of the three dicarboxylic acids was found to be an initial omega-oxidation of the medium-chain C10-C14-monocarboxylic acids followed by beta-oxidation of the resulting medium-chain dicarboxylic acids. It is argued that the source of the omega-oxidizable monocarboxylic acids in ketosis most probably is the fat deposites, and it is speculated that the patients with beta-oxidation defects supplement this source with beta-oxidation intermediate medium-chain monocarboxylic acids, accumulated as a result of the defect. The ratio between the excreted amounts of adipic acid and sebacic acid in the urine from the patients with beta-oxidation defects is less than 50. This is in contrast to the ratio in urine from ketotic patients, where it is greater than 100. Adipic acid/sebacic acid ratio-measured by means of a gas chromatographic analysis-is therefore suggested as a tool in the diagnosis of dicarboxylic acidurias. Based on the clinical picture and the pattern of a series of organic acids in the urinary metabolic profile our four patients can be divided in two types of dicarboxylic aciduria. The two types have different therapeutic implications.
 ...
PMID:C6-C10-dicarboxylic aciduria: biochemical considerations in relation to diagnosis of beta-oxidation defects. 695 31

Heat shock protein 60 (hsp60) is a mitochondrial matrix protein involved in the folding and correct assembly of polypeptides into complex mitochondrial enzymes. Its deficiency has recently been described as the most likely primary cause of congenital lactic acidaemia with multiple mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies in a female patient. We describe a new case of a girl with a substantially decreased amount of hsp60 in cultured fibroblasts. She presented from birth with hypotonia, unusual facial features, feeding difficulties and failure to thrive. Death occurred at age 4.5 years. Biochemical findings included metabolic acidosis with lactic acidaemia, hyperammonaemia and intermittent ketosis. In contrast to the previously reported case, organic acid analysis showed an altered profile throughout her life. In agreement with this profile, various mitochondrial enzyme activities were deficient in cultured fibroblasts, including enzymes of the respiratory chain and the Krebs cycle, the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and the mitochondrial biotindependent carboxylases. Fibroblast mitochondria showed ultrastructural abnormalities, were swollen, and were mainly localized around the nucleus. The description of a second case of multiple mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies with reduced amount of hsp60 supports the idea that hsp60 deficiency might be a more common cause of mitochondrial disease. This opens new possibilities for the diagnosis and understanding of congenital lactic acidaemia.
 ...
PMID:A new case of multiple mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies with decreased amount of heat shock protein 60. 926 94

The detection of neurodegenerative and neurometabolic diseases in children relies on a high index of suspicion as most will present as common paediatric problems such as recurrent vomiting, feeding problem, failure to thrive, sepsis, or developmental delay. Alternatively, children may present with an acute encephalopathy or with a chronic progressive encephalopathy. Clinical clues suggestive of neurometabolic disorders include encephalopathic features such as microcephaly, macrocephaly, developmental regression, developmental arrest, change in sensorium, seizures, hypotonia, hypertonia, abnormal eye signs; also extrapyramidal or cerebellar signs and systemic features like abnormal respiration, hepatosplenomegaly, abnormal hair, liver dysfunction, renal tubular dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, and feeding difficulties or growth problems. Initial screening include tests for acidosis, ketosis, hyperlacticemia, and hyperammonemia. Further investigations should amino acid chromatography, assays of organic acids, specific enzyme assay of white cell or fibroblast culture, and histopatholgy of cell and tissue biopsy (white blood cell, skin, muscle, conjunctiva, bone marrow, liver, rectum, or brain). The correct diagnosis holds implications for targeted therapeutic intervention, genetic counselling, and possibly, prenatal diagnosis.
 ...
PMID:Neurodegenerative diseases in children. 1184 61

Propionic acidemia is an autosomal recessive disorder as a result of a deficient activity of propionyl-CoA carboxylase. Propionyl CoA is metabolized by propionyl-CoA carboxylase to methylmalonyl CoA. Propionic acidemia is a major cause of ketotic hyperglycinemia. This disorder is characterized by episodic vomiting, dehydratation, feeding intolerante, lethargy, hypotonia, metabolic acidosis, ketosis and hyperammonemia. The patient presented herein was a full-term female newborn with encephalopathy in the first days of life. She presented hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis with increased anion gap, ketosis, hyperammonemia, anemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. The brain ultrasonography was normal. The tandem mass expectrometry done by Pediatrix was abnormal, with the acylcarnitine results consistent with an organic acidemia. The parents are consanguineus and have a history of abortus, miscarriage and neonatal death, characteristics suggestive of the presence of genetic defects.
 ...
PMID:[Neonatal onset of organic acidemia (propionic) diagnosed by tandem mass spectrometry]. 1864 57

Propionic acidemia (PA) is a rare organic acidemia resulting from a deficiency of the mitochondrial enzyme propionyl-coenzyme A carboxylase. Most cases are diagnosed after the detection of metabolic abnormalities-such as hyperammonemia, metabolic acidosis, and ketosis-associated with complaints of vomiting, feeding difficulties, and hypotonia during the neonatal period. However, in rare late-onset cases, mild or vague symptoms make the diagnosis more challenging. Even though acute pancreatitis is relatively uncommon in children, it can occur in association with PA. We present the case of a 4-year-old child who was admitted owing to the complaint of recurrent pancreatitis and had not previously been diagnosed with having metabolic disease. During inpatient treatment for acute pancreatitis, convulsions occurred with concomitant hyperammonemia, metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, and shock 1 week after the administration of total parenteral nutrition. He was diagnosed to have PA after a metabolic work-up and confirmed to have novel mutation by molecular genetic analysis. Because children with PA may have acute pancreatitis, although rare, vomiting and abdominal pain should raise a suspicion of acute pancreatitis. On the contrary, even among children who have never been diagnosed with a metabolic disease, if a child has recurrent pancreatitis, metabolic pancreatitis caused by organic acidemia should be considered.
 ...
PMID:Propionic Acidemia with Novel Mutation Presenting as Recurrent Pancreatitis in a Child. 3180 24