Dihydropyrimidinase Deficiency: The First Feline Case of Dihydropyrimidinuria With Clinical and Molecular Findings.

Dihydropyrimidinase deficiency: the first feline case of dihydropyrimidinuria with clinical and molecular findings.

JIMD Rep. 2012; 6: 21-6
Chang HS, Shibata T, Arai S, Zhang C, Yabuki A, Mitani S, Higo T, Sunagawa K, Mizukami K, Yamato O

Dihydropyrimidinase (DHP, EC 3.5.2.2) is the second enzyme of the pyrimidine degradation pathway and a deficiency of this enzyme is responsible for a rare inborn metabolic syndrome characterized by dihydropyrimidinuria. Here we report a cat with DHP deficiency, manifesting malnutrition, depression, vomiting, and hyperammonemia. A gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of urinary metabolic substances showed the presence of large amounts of dihydrouracil and dihydrothymine and moderate amounts of uracil and thymine, suggesting DHP deficiency. Analysis of the feline DPYS gene encoding DHP demonstrated that the cat was homozygous for the missense mutation c.1303G>A (p.G435R) in exon 8, which corresponds to a known mutation in a human patient with DHP deficiency. Population screening in 1,000 cats did not reveal any animal possessing this mutation, suggesting the prevalence of the mutant allele to be very low. This is the first report of naturally occurring DHP deficiency in animals and the cat represents a model of the human disease. HubMed – depression

Epilepsy in biotinidase deficiency after biotin treatment.

JIMD Rep. 2012; 4: 75-8
Micó SI, Jiménez RD, Salcedo EM, Martínez HA, Mira AP, Fernández CC

Patients with severe biotinidase deficiency (BD), if untreated, may exhibit seizures, psychomotor delay, deafness, ataxia, visual pathology, conjunctivitis, alopecia, and dermatitis. Clinical features normally appear within the first months of life, between two and five. Seizures are one of the most common symptoms in these patients (55%), usually presented as generalized tonic-clonic, and improving within 24 h of biotin treatment. Treatment delay has been associated with irreversible neurological damage, mental retardation, ataxia, paraparesis, deafness, and epilepsy exceptionally.We report the case of a girl who was admitted at 2.5 months because of vomiting, failure to thrive, flexor spasms, dermatitis, and neurological depression for 1 month. BD was identified and was treated with biotin, stopping seizures and improving symptoms. Developmental delay, paraparesis, optic atrophy, and seizures during febrile illness were observed at follow-up. At the age of 8, she suffered hemigeneralized seizures despite appropriate biotin treatment, so levetiracetam was administered, and epilepsy was controlled. Organic acid measurement was performed to determine whether the child was receiving enough or no biotin.Even though BD is a rare condition, because the biotinidase screening is a reliable procedure and the disorder is readily treatable, the implementation of extended biotinidase screening will effectively help to prevent any acute and long-term neurological problems as well as the significant morbidity associated with untreated disease. In addition, neonatal screening and early treatment with biotin prevents severe neurological sequelae, such as epilepsy, which has not been thoroughly described in the literature. HubMed – depression

Effects of chronic mild stress in female bax inhibitor-1-gene knockout mice.

Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2012 Dec; 10(3): 155-62
Sui ZY, Chae HJ, Huang GB, Zhao T, Shrestha Muna S, Chung YC

The anti-apoptotic protein Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) is a regulator of apoptosis linked to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and BI-1(-/-) mice exhibit increased sensitivity to tissue damage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of BI-1 in the pathogenesis of chronic mild stress (CMS)-induced depression-like behaviors in BI-1(-/-) mice.We delivered CMS for 2 or 6 weeks in BI-1-knockout and wild-type mice. Control groups of BI-1-knockout and wild-type mice were left undisturbed. The measured parameters were sucrose consumption at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, spontaneous locomotion, and a forced swimming test (FST) at weeks 2 and 6.Significant decreases in sucrose consumption and increases in immobility time in the FST were observed in both stress groups compared with the non-stress groups. Interestingly, at week 2, but not at week 6, BI-1(-/-)-stress mice showed less sucrose intake and greater immobility time than did BI-1(+/+)-stress mice.These results suggest that BI-1 may play role in protecting against the depressogenic effects of CMS in the short term, but not in the long term. Further study is required to deepen understanding of the role of BI-1 in protecting against depression. HubMed – depression

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