Child ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening ; methods ; Phenylalanine ; blood ; Phenylketonurias ; diagnosis ; genetics ; prevention & control ; Prognosis

99mTc was used instead of 131I for detecting thyroid tissue in 40 patients with congenital primary hypothyroidism. It was found that 25 cases(62.5%) of athyroidism, 5 cases (12.5%) of ectopic thyroid gland and 10 cases (25%) of thyroid gland in situ. It is suggested that anatomic abnormality of thyroid gland may be the major cause of congenital primary hypothyroidism.

Application of TMS technology in newborn screening has resulted in major expansion of disorder panel for metabolic diseases in recent years. This automated, multiplex testing methodology detects multiple analytes from single analysis of one blood spot, which leads to detection of 30-35 disorders of amino acids, organic acids, and fatty acids metabolism. The early identification of persons affected with inborn errors of metabolism has led to unexpected discoveries related to the natural history of the disorder or options for therapy. This article summarized (1) the basic principles of this technology and methodology. (2) Current status of application of this methodology in the United States, European countries and in China. (3) The positive impacts on the public health and advances in medical genetics. Finally (4) Challenges, issues and possible solutions. The purpose of this article aimed at introducing new technology and exploring the possibilities of implementing into developing countries where medical genetics is not developed and foreseeing the possible problems and obstacles.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type Ⅱ is a rare single gene inherited disorder. In the earlier studies, more attention was paid to the molecular analysis of the hot spots of the mutations. With the detection of more and more novel mutations,more studies are trying to analyze the effect on splicing of different types of mutations and the genotype-phenotype correlations. This review will introduce the progress on molecular genetics, the gene mutation,analysis of the female patients and the genotype-phenotype correlations. With the study of these progress,it suggested that more attention should be paid to the possibility of gene-pseudogen recombinations, trying to study the effect on splicing from the cDNA level, which will benefit the investigation of the genotype-phenotype correlations.

Objective To determine the expression of two neuron developmental associated genes induced by hyperphenylalanine.Methods Primary embryonal rat cerebral cortical neurons were cultured for three day and cells induced by hyperphenylalanine for 12 hours.Real time quantitative RT-PCR was used to determine the influence of hyperphenylalanine on the expression of GAP-43 and Go?1 genes.Results GAP-43 mRNA was upregulated to 2.25 times and Go?1 was downregulated to 3.31 times by hyperphenylalanine.Conlusion Hyperphenylalanine may interfere the normal development of cerebral cortical neurons through influencing the expression of GAP-43 and Go?1 genes.

Objective To explore whether phenylalanine affect Cdc42, Racl, and RhoA expression and disturb dendritic development. To determine the effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on this process. Methods Neurons were cultivated up to 3 days and then treated with 0.9 mmol/L phenylalanine or 100 ng/ml BDNF. Dendritic number were determined by morphologic analysis. Cdc42, Racl, and RhoA protein expression were examined by Western blotting analysis. ResultsThe number of dendrites in cultured neurons reduced two days after being treated with phenylalanine,while BDNF could rescue this change(P < 0.01), furthermore, BDNF was found to inhibit phenylalanineinduced down-regulation of Cdc42, Racl, and RhoA protein expression(P < 0.01). Conclusions Our study indicated that the protective effect of BDNF against phenylalanine-induced neuronal injury is probably mediated by expression of Cdc42, Racl,and RhoA. It suggested a potential neuroprotective action of BDNF in prevention and treatment of brain injury in the patients with phenylketonuria.

Objectives Inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) has a diverse spectrum and different incidence in different countries, the early diagnosis at presymptomatic stage is imperative to benefic patient from sequelae. Phenylke-tonuria (PKU) / hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) is the most common metabolism disorder in Shanghai as well as in other regions. The study is to further clarify the incidence of inborn errors of metabolism among newborn in Shanghai. Methods The dried blood spot specimens were collected from near 90 local maternity and children's hospitals or general hospitals in Shanghai. PKU/HPA screening was carried out by fluorometric method. Neonatal screening using tandem mass spectrometry was performed in one of the study centers, Xinhua neonatal screening center. Results A total of 815 160 cases were screened from 2001 - 2007 in Shanghai, the incidence of PKU/HPA was 1 : 12 351. The tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency was 12.9% among hyperphenylalaninemia patients. According to the 116 000 neonatal samples data detected by tandem mass spectrometry, 20 cases were confirmed diagnosis, including 6 kinds diseases, it was PKU/HPA, maple syrup urine disease, methylmalonicacidemia, propionic acidemia, 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase defection, and short chain aeyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. Conclusions The pilot study shown that inborn errors of metabolism neonatal screen-ing using tandem mass was 1 : 5 800 in Shanghai, PKU/HPA was the most common disease. It is expected that the expansion of newborn screening using tandem mass spectrometry could be further considered and further improving inborn errors of metabolism preventive services in Shanghai.

Biopterin ; analogs & derivatives ; deficiency ; genetics ; Child ; Consensus ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening ; methods ; Phenylalanine ; blood ; Phenylalanine Hydroxylase ; deficiency ; genetics ; Phenylketonurias ; classification ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tyrosine ; blood

Dried Blood Spot Testing ; Gaucher Disease ; diagnosis ; Humans

Objective Sphingolipidoses are a group of rare genetic disorders caused by catabolism defect of sphingolipids by lysosomal hydrolases with diverse presentations,and represent an important health problem to almost all ethnic populations. To date,there is no epidemiologic study on the prevalence of sphinglipidoses,individually,or as a group,in China. We set up a series of enzymatic assays that could make definite diagnoses with the aim to collect data for an epidemiologic investigation of sphingolipidoses and also pave the way to prenatal diagnosis to decrease the rate of inborn error of metabolism. Methods Patients with suspected sphingolipidosis were recruited from pediatric endocrinology and inherited metabolism outpatient clinics of Xinhua Hospital. Leukocytes were isolated with dextran from peripheral bloods. Activities of leukocyte acid β-glucosidase,acid sphingomyelinase,arylsulphatase A,galacto-cerebrosidase,beta-galactosidase were measured using their specific artificial fluorescent substrates,while arylsulfatase A was determined by a colorimetric assay with dipotassium 2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl sulfate as the substrate. Results In one year,we identified 17 patients with 5 different kinds of sphingolipidoses,including 3 patients with Gaucher disease,9 patients with Niemann-Pick type A/B,2 patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy,2 patients with Krabbe disease,and 1 patient with GM1 gangliosidosis. We made brief descriptions of disease characters of each different kind disease and compared our results with findings of other ethnic groups. Conclusions Sphinglipidoses was markedly under-diagnosed in China and general pediatricians should be alerted to sphinglipidoses.