There are a large number of well recognised syndromes comprising cerebellar ataxia in association with other neurological features. We report three family members who presented with a relapsing, early onset cerebellar ataxia, associated with progressive optic atrophy and sensorineural deafness. All three patients have areflexia (in the absence of a peripheral neuropathy), a pes cavus deformity,...

In healthy humans, the cortical brain rhythm shows specific mu (~6-14 Hz) and beta (~18-24 Hz) band patterns in the cases of both real and imaginary motor movements. As cerebellar ataxia is associated with impairment of precise motor movement control as well as motor imagery, ataxia is an ideal model system in which to study the role of the cerebellocortical circuit in rhythm control. We hypoth...

The spinocerebellar ataxias, like all neurodegenerative diseases, lack objective disease- and stage-specific biomarkers. Based on reports of clinically evident optic disc atrophy or retinal disease in some ataxia patients, and the discovery that pre-symptomatic retinal thinning occurs in other neurologic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, we tested the hypothesis that subclinical neuronal or ...

BACKGROUND Mitochondrial dysfunction due to respiratory chain impairment is a key feature in pathogenesis of Friedreich ataxia. Friedreich ataxia affects the nervous system, heart and pancreas. METHODS We assessed hepatic mitochondrial function by (13)C-methionine-breath-test in 16 Friedreich ataxia patients and matched healthy controls. RESULTS Patients exhaled significantly smaller amount...

Blood thiamine levels in ataxia patients were studied. No significant differences were found between 30 patients with Friedreich's ataxia and 29 patients with olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) compared with control subjects. Both OPCA and Friedreich's ataxia patients presented significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid thiamine levels than their controls (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.04 r...

Twenty patients are described with a distinctive clinical syndrome characterised by progressive cerebellar ataxia developing within the first two decades. This is associated with dysarthria, pyramidal signs in the limbs, normal or increased knee jerks and upper limb reflexes and in some instances sensory loss. Inheritance is probably autosomal recessive in the majority, if not all, of the cases...

objective(s) the mitochondrial defects in friedreich's ataxia have been reported in many researches. mitochondrial dna is one of the candidates for defects in mitochondrion, and complex i is the first and one of the largest catalytic complexes of oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) system. materials and methods we searched the mitochondrial nd4l gene for mutations by ttge and sequencing on ...

how to cite this article: heidari mm, khatami m, houshmand m, mahmoudi e, nafissi sh .increased prevalence 12308 a > g mutation in mitochondrialtrnaleu (cun) gene associated with earlier age of onset in friedreich ataxia. iranian journal of child neurology 2011;5(4):25-31. objective friedreich ataxia (frda) is an inherited recessive disorder. mitochondrial dna is a candidate modifying factor fo...

BACKGROUND Spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 is an autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the TATA box-binding protein gene. Ataxia is typically the first sign whereas behavioral symptoms occur later. OBJECTIVE To characterize the unusual phenotypic expression of a large spinocerebellar ataxia type 17 kindred. DESIGN Clinical, neuropathological, and molecular ...