Fumarase deficiency (or fumaric aciduria) is an exceedingly rare autosomal recessivemetabolic disorder in the Krebs cycle, characterized by a deficiency of the enzymefumarate hydratase, which causes a buildup of fumaric acid in the urine and a deficiency of malate. Only 13 cases were known worldwide in 1990, after which a cluster of 20 cases was documented in a community in Arizona, US, that has practiced successive endogamy.
Presentation
Fumarase deficiency causes encephalopathy,[2] severe intellectual disabilities, unusual facial features, brain malformation, and epileptic seizures[3] due to an abnormally low amount of fumarase in cells. It can initially present with polyhydramnios on prenatal ultrasound. Affected neonates may demonstrate nonspecific signs of poor feeding and hypotonia. Laboratory findings in neonates may indicate polycythemia, leukopenia, or neutropenia. As they age, neurological deficits begin to manifest with seizures, dystonias, and severe developmental delay.[4]
The condition is an autosomal recessive disorder,[7] and it is therefore usually necessary for an affected individual to receive the mutant allele from both parents. A number of children diagnosed with the disorder have been born to parents who were first cousins.[8][9] It can also be associated with uniparental isodisomy.[10]
Diagnosis
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Treatment
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Epidemiology
Fumarase deficiency is extremely rare – until around 1990 there had only been 13 diagnosed and identified cases worldwide.[citation needed]
^Devlin, Thomas M. (2006). Textbook of biochemistry: with clinical correlations. New York: John Wiley. p. 546. ISBN978-0-471-67808-3.
^Gellera, C.; Uziel, G.; Rimoldi, M.; Zeviani, M.; Laverda, A.; Carrara, F.; DiDonato, S. (March 1990). "Fumarase deficiency is an autosomal recessive encephalopathy affecting both the mitochondrial and the cytosolic enzymes". Neurology. 40 (3 Part 1): 495–499. doi:10.1212/wnl.40.3_part_1.495. PMID2314594. S2CID1292556.