Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0243026 (sepsis)
 52,417 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Barth syndrome (BTHS) is an X-linked autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neutropenia, cardiomyopathy and growth retardation. BTHS was first described as mitochondrial disease affecting neutrophils as well as cardiac and skeletal muscles. Patients with neutropenia may have extremely low levels of circulating neutrophils and suffer from recurring sometimes life-threatening bacterial infections. Sepsis is not infrequent, may occur unexpectedly in a patient with no history for pronounced bacterial infections and may lead to death. The reduced level of circulating neutrophils suggests either a reduced production of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and premature apoptosis or aberrant clearance of neutrophils in peripheral blood. The underlying molecular defects are truncation, deletion or substitution mutations in the TAZ gene that appear to result in loss-of-function of the gene product tafazzin. Molecular mechanisms triggering neutropenia and cardiomyopathy in BTHS remain largely unclear. The current review focusses on recent advances in the understanding of molecular and cellular bases of neutropenia in Barth syndrome and covers the functional implications of the TAZ mutations, experimental models for neutropenia, the specific cellular abnormalities triggered by loss of TAZ function and potential novel therapeutic strategies for restoring the normal phenotype.
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PMID:Advances in the understanding of Barth syndrome. 2343 31

Barth syndrome (BTHS) is an X-linked recessive disorder that is typically characterized by cardiomyopathy (CMP), skeletal myopathy, growth retardation, neutropenia, and increased urinary levels of 3-methylglutaconic acid (3-MGCA). There may be a wide variability of phenotypes amongst BTHS patients with some exhibiting some or all of these findings. BTHS was first described as a disease of the mitochondria resulting in neutropenia as well as skeletal and cardiac myopathies. Over the past few years, a greater understanding of BTHS has developed related to the underlying genetic mechanisms responsible for the disease. Mutations in the TAZ gene on chromosome Xq28, also known as G4.5, are responsible for the BTHS phenotype resulting in a loss-of-function in the protein product tafazzin. Clinical management of BTHS has also seen improvement. Patients with neutropenia are susceptible to life-threatening bacterial infections with sepsis being a significant concern for possible morbidity and mortality. Increasingly, BTHS patients are suffering from heart failure secondary to their CMP. Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) and dilated CMP are the most common cardiac phenotypes reported and can lead to symptoms of heart failure as well as ventricular arrhythmias. Expanded treatment options for end-stage myocardial dysfunction now offer an opportunity to change the natural history for these patients. Herein, we will provide a current review of the genetic and molecular basis of BTHS, the clinical features and management of BTHS, and potential future directions for therapeutic strategies.
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PMID:Barth syndrome. 2384 53