INTRODUCTION Trimethylaminuria is a rare inherited disorder due to decreased metabolism of dietary-derived trimethylamine by flavin-containing monooxygenase 3. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms of the flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 gene have been described and result in an enzyme with decreased or abolished functional activity for trimethylamine N-oxygenation thus leading to trimethyla...

The first step in the splicing of an intron from nuclear precursors of mRNA results in the formation of a lariat structure. A distinct intronic nucleotide sequence, known as the branchpoint region, plays a central role in this process. We here describe a point mutation in such a sequence. Three sisters were shown to suffer from fish-eye disease (FED), a disorder which is caused by mutations in ...

Autosomal recessive steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRINS) belongs to the heterogeneous group of familial nephrotic syndrome and represents a frequent cause of end-stage renal disease in childhood. This kidney disorder is characterized by early onset of proteinuria, progression to end-stage renal disease, and histologic findings of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, minimal change nephro...

BACKGROUND Fabry disease (FD) is a multisystemic disorder with typical neurological manifestations such as stroke and small fiber neuropathy (SFN), caused by mutations of the alpha-galactosidase A (GLA) gene. We analyzed 15 patients carrying the GLA haplotype -10C>T [rs2071225], IVS2-81_-77delCAGCC [rs5903184], IVS4-16A>G [rs2071397], and IVS6-22C>T [rs2071228] for potential neurological manife...

Inherited factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. Mutations and polymorphisms of the FVII gene were characterized in more than 40 unrelated patients with FVII deficiency. Among the 29 different mutations, the most frequent were Ala294 Val, Ala294Val;404delC, IVS7+7, and Val281 Phe. Four novel mutations (IVS2+1G>C, Arg247 Cys, Glu265 Lys, Asp343 His) were detected. T...

BACKGROUND Hyperphenylalaninemia is a common inherited metabolic disease that is due to phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency, and at least half the affected patients have mild clinical phenotypes. Treatment with a low-phenylalanine diet represents a substantial psychosocial burden, but alternative treatments have not been effective. METHODS To explore the therapeutic efficacy of tetrahydrobio...

BACKGROUND The Bloom syndrome gene, BLM, was mapped to 15q26.1 and its product was found to encode a RecQ DNA helicase. The Fanconi's anemia complementation group C gene was mapped to chromosome 9q22.3, but its product function is not sufficiently clear. Both are recessive disorders associated with an elevated predisposition to cancer due to genomic instability. A single predominant mutation of...