Aromatic l-aminoacid decarboxylase deficiency: unusual neonatal presentation and additional findings in organic acid analysis

Aromatic l-aminoacid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is a neurotransmitter defect leading to a combined deficiency of catecholamines and serotonin. Patients are usually detected in infancy due to developmental delay, hypotonia, and extrapyramidal movements. Diagnosis is based on an abnormal neurotransmitter metabolite profile in CSF and reduced AADC activity in plasma. An elevation of vanillactic acid (VLA) has been described as the only abnormality detected in organic acid analysis (OA) of urine. We report a patient who presented in the neonatal period with lethargy, hypotonia, metabolic acidosis, and hypoglycemia. Blood ammonia, lactic acid, and acylcarnitines were normal, but OA of a urine sample showed a small increase of VLA, raising the suspicion of AADC deficiency. The patient was lost to follow-up until the age of 8 months, when he presented with dystonia, abnormal movements, oculogyric crises, and hypothermia. Repeat OA showed not only increased levels of VLA, but also increased vanilpyruvic acid (VPA), N-acetyl-vanilalanine (AVA) and N-acetyl-tyrosine (NAT). Neurotransmitter analysis in CSF showed increased vanilalanine (1200 nmol/L, ref<100) with decreased levels of 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA, < 5 nmol/L; ref 152-462), homovanillic acid (HVA, 83 nmol/L; ref 302-845), and methoxy-hydroxy-phenyl-glycol (<5 nmol/L; ref 51-112). AADC activity in plasma was nearly undetectable. In the urine, low excretion of vanilmandelic acid (<0.3 micromol/mmol creat; ref 0.3-20) and 5-HIAA (0.9 micromol/mmol creat; ref 4-18), was found, but HVA was normal and dopamine even elevated. This contradictory phenomenon of hyperdopaminuria has been described earlier in AADC deficient patients. We postulate that VPA and AVA could originate from vanilalanine (through a transaminase and an acetylase respectively), while NAT could originate from tyrosine through an AA acetylase. This report expands the clinical presentation of AADC deficiency and adds new markers of the disease for OA analysis, improving detection of AADC deficient patients in general metabolic screening procedures.

Multiple acyl-CoA-dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD): use of acylcarnitines and fatty acids to monitor the response to dietary treatment

The treatment of multiple acyl-CoA-dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) includes a low-fat, low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet, avoiding long fasting periods. However, there is no useful biochemical marker to determine the response to different diets or fasting periods. The aims of this study are to report a patient with MADD, diagnosed through a newborn screening program using tandem mass spectrometry, to assess her response to different feedings, and to evaluate the usefulness of acylcarnitines and FFA to monitor the response to dietary changes. The patient was diagnosed at 6 d. Family history revealed three dead siblings. Five tests were performed, one with breast milk and the subsequent four after giving the patient a bottle of a low-fat, low-protein formula (F), F with glucose polymers (GP), F+GP plus uncooked corn starch (CS), or F+GP+CS preceded by amylase. The results showed that acylcarnitines, FFA, and total nonesterified fatty acids levels were greatly improved at 2 and 4 h on F+GP compared with breast milk. At 6 mo of age, the test with F+CS was repeated to assess the response to a longer fast. The results were similar at 2 and 4 h, but showed a marked increase of acylcarnitines, FFA, and total nonesterified fatty acids at 6 h. The increase of these metabolites could not be avoided by the use of F+GP+CS, but was prevented when amylase was used simultaneously. The patient is currently 3.9 y old and has normal growth and development. We conclude that diagnosis of MADD through a newborn screening program using tandem mass spectrometry is suitable; acylcarnitines and FFA are useful to monitor the response to treatment; and exogenous amylase allows the use of CS in small children with MADD. This therapeutic approach may be an alternative to the use of continuous overnight feedings used for young children with severe fatty acid oxidation defects. Early diagnosis and treatment may change the natural history of MADD.

[Whole body irradiation before bone marrow transplantation]

Preliminary results of hiperfraccionated total body irradiation (TBI) in eleven patients with acute leukemia (mean age 11.4 years) as conditioning for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation are presented. The linear accelerator was always used for photon irradiation in 3 daily fractions of 120 cGy, to a total dose of 1320 cGy in 4 days. With a follow-up of 3-24 months we obtained good results. The average time for durable engraftment was 22 days and only 2 patients died; one early after the engraftment and another with hepatic veno-occlusive disease 4 months later. There were no cases of intersticial pneumonitis. Due to the good results, although the number of the patients was small, and the follow-up short, the authors propose to continue this protocol until November 1990.

A simple colorimetric method for the determination of primaquine metabolites in urine

A simple method of screening large numbers of urine samples for the presence of primaquine metabolites has been developed using a commercially available diazonium salt reagent and an extraction cartridge. The extraction requires only 1.0 ml of urine and is selective for acidic or neutral primaquine metabolites. With primaquine-dosed rats, primaquine metabolites could be detected 36 hours after administration of the drug. The sensitivity of the method was found to be approximately 400 mug/l.