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Metachromatic leukodystrophy caused by a partial cerebroside sulfatase defect
Author(s) -
Kihara Hayato,
Fluharty Arvan L.,
O'Brien John S.,
Fish Charles H.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
clinical genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1399-0004
pISSN - 0009-9163
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-0004.1982.tb00759.x
Subject(s) - metachromatic leukodystrophy , arylsulfatase a , cerebroside , sulfatase , arylsulfatase , chemistry , metachromasia , biochemistry , urine , medicine , endocrinology , enzyme , biology , pathology , staining
A patient with neuropathy and myopathy since infancy but whose neuropathy had been stable for a number of years showed a profound deficiency of arylsulfatase A in leukocytes and urine. Urine contained material that stained metachromatically and cochromatographed with cerebroside sulfate. In contrast, cultured fibroblasts contained about 10–20 % of normal arylsulfatase A with properties identical to properties of normal fibroblast enzyme, except that it showed no cerebroside sulfatase activity. Growing fibroblasts in the cerebroside sulfate loading test had an attenuated rate of sulfatide hydrolysis. A reexamination of the cerebroside sulfatase reaction revealed that while only limited hydrolysis occurred with low concentrations of taurodeoxycholate or chelate (type I activation), significant hydrolysis of the natural substrate did take place with high concentrations of cholate (type II activation). This suggests that there is a partial cerebroside sulfatase defect in this atypical form of metachromatic leukodystrophy.