-
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases Mar 2015Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the urea cycle. HHH has a panethnic distribution, with a... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the urea cycle. HHH has a panethnic distribution, with a major prevalence in Canada, Italy and Japan. Acute clinical signs include intermittent episodes of vomiting, confusion or coma and hepatitis-like attacks. Alternatively, patients show a chronic course with aversion for protein rich foods, developmental delay/intellectual disability, myoclonic seizures, ataxia and pyramidal dysfunction. HHH syndrome is caused by impaired ornithine transport across the inner mitochondrial membrane due to mutations in SLC25A15 gene, which encodes for the mitochondrial ornithine carrier ORC1. The diagnosis relies on clinical signs and the peculiar metabolic triad of hyperammonemia, hyperornithinemia, and urinary excretion of homocitrulline. HHH syndrome enters in the differential diagnosis with other inherited or acquired conditions presenting with hyperammonemia.
METHODS
A systematic review of publications reporting patients with HHH syndrome was performed.
RESULTS
We retrospectively evaluated the clinical, biochemical and genetic profile of 111 HHH syndrome patients, 109 reported in 61 published articles, and two unpublished cases. Lethargy and coma are frequent at disease onset, whereas pyramidal dysfunction and cognitive/behavioural abnormalities represent the most common clinical features in late-onset cases or during the disease course. Two common mutations, F188del and R179* account respectively for about 30% and 15% of patients with the HHH syndrome. Interestingly, the majority of mutations are located in residues that have side chains protruding into the internal pore of ORC1, suggesting their possible interference with substrate translocation. Acute and chronic management consists in the control of hyperammonemia with protein-restricted diet supplemented with citrulline/arginine and ammonia scavengers. Prognosis of HHH syndrome is variable, ranging from a severe course with disabling manifestations to milder variants compatible with an almost normal life.
CONCLUSIONS
This paper provides detailed information on the clinical, metabolic and genetic profiles of all HHH syndrome patients published to date. The clinical phenotype is extremely variable and its severity does not correlate with the genotype or with recorded ammonium/ornithine plasma levels. Early intervention allows almost normal life span but the prognosis is variable, suggesting the need for a better understanding of the still unsolved pathophysiology of the disease.
Topics: Aging; Humans; Hyperammonemia; Mutation; Origin Recognition Complex; Ornithine; Protein Conformation; Urea Cycle Disorders, Inborn
PubMed: 25874378
DOI: 10.1186/s13023-015-0242-9 -
Asian Journal of Surgery Mar 2024
PubMed: 38443250
DOI: 10.1016/j.asjsur.2024.02.143 -
Biochemical Genetics Apr 2018Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are a group of inherited metabolic disorders which are caused by mutations in the specific genes that lead to impaired proteins or... (Review)
Review
Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are a group of inherited metabolic disorders which are caused by mutations in the specific genes that lead to impaired proteins or enzymes production. Different metabolic pathways are perturbed due to the deficiency or lack of enzymes. To date, more than 500 IEMs have been reported with most of them being untreatable. However, fortunately 91 such disorders are potentially treatable, if diagnosed at an earlier stage of life. IEMs have been classified into different categories and one class of IEMs, characterized by the physiological disturbances of amino acids is called as aminoacidopathies. Out of 91 treatable IEM, thirteen disorders are amino acid related. Aminoacidopathies can be detected by chromatography and mass spectrometry based analytical techniques (e.g., HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS/MS) for amino acid level changes, and through genetic assays (e.g., PCR, TaqMan Genotyping, DNA sequencing) at the mutation level in the corresponding genes. Hence, this review is focused to describe thirteen common aminoacidopathies namely: Phenylketonuria (PKU), Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), Homocystinuria/Methylene Tetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) deficiency, Tyrosinemia type II, Citrullinemia type I and type II, Argininosuccinic aciduria, Carbamoyl Phosphate Synthetase I (CPS) deficiency, Argininemia (arginase deficiency), Hyperornithinemia-Hyperammonemia-Homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome, N-Acetylglutamate Synthase (NAGS) deficiency, Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase (PDH) complex deficiency. Furthermore, the etiology, prevalence and commonly used analytical techniques for screening of aminoacidopathies are briefly described. This information would be helpful to researchers and clinicians especially from developing countries to initiate newborn screening programs for aminoacidopathies.
Topics: Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Amino Acids; Genotyping Techniques; Humans; Mass Screening; Mass Spectrometry; Prevalence
PubMed: 29094226
DOI: 10.1007/s10528-017-9825-6 -
JIMD Reports 2019Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome (OMIM 238970) is an autosomal recessive disorder that is caused by a deficiency of mitochondrial...
Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome (OMIM 238970) is an autosomal recessive disorder that is caused by a deficiency of mitochondrial ornithine transporter 1, resulting in dysfunction of the urea cycle. HHH is the rarest of the urea cycle disorders, reported in fewer than 100 patients. It is characterized by extreme phenotypic variability, including diverse ages of onset and severity of phenotype. We report the first confirmed instance of HHH syndrome in a premature infant (31 2/7 weeks) with severe hyperammonemia (1,300 μmol/L).This case highlights the importance of considering HHH in the differential diagnosis for neonatal hyperammonemia. Because HHH is not detected by newborn screening, and the characteristic biochemical triad may be subtle or even absent, it has the potential to be underdiagnosed; however, making the diagnosis has critical therapeutic implications as treatment is distinct from other urea cycle defects. For instance, lysine supplementation is a beneficial treatment unique to HHH. Therefore, we present here a review of previously reported cases in order to demonstrate the full spectrum of the disease and highlight potentially diagnostic features.
PubMed: 30187369
DOI: 10.1007/8904_2018_132 -
Ryoikibetsu Shokogun Shirizu 2001
Review
Topics: Citrulline; Humans; Hyperammonemia; Ornithine; Syndrome
PubMed: 11462710
DOI: No ID Found -
Ryoikibetsu Shokogun Shirizu 1998
Review
Topics: Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Ammonia; Citrulline; Diagnosis, Differential; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Ornithine; Ornithine-Oxo-Acid Transaminase; Syndrome
PubMed: 9590023
DOI: No ID Found -
JIMD Reports Mar 2019Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare metabolic autosomal recessive urea cycle disorder. Only about 100 patients have been reported...
Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare metabolic autosomal recessive urea cycle disorder. Only about 100 patients have been reported in the literature. As the population survives into reproductive years, pregnancy management becomes a new challenge for this clinicians. To our knowledge, there are less than three patients with successful pregnancies and deliveries found in the literature with no specific consensus on management or recommendations for HHH syndrome. We reviewed the current literature regarding pregnancy outcomes, combine it with our experience managing a patient through two successful pregnancies and identify a new concern of fetal intrauterine growth restriction. From this, recommendations for pregnancy management are made, including a detailed protocol for clinicians to use for disease management at delivery and in the post-partum period.
PubMed: 31240152
DOI: 10.1002/jmd2.12025 -
Progress in Retinal and Eye Research Nov 2022Besides cystoid macular edema due to a blood-retinal barrier breakdown, another type of macular cystoid spaces referred to as non-vasogenic cystoid maculopathies (NVCM)... (Review)
Review
Besides cystoid macular edema due to a blood-retinal barrier breakdown, another type of macular cystoid spaces referred to as non-vasogenic cystoid maculopathies (NVCM) may be detected on optical coherence tomography but not on fluorescein angiography. Various causes may disrupt retinal cell cohesion or impair retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Müller cell functions in the maintenance of retinal dehydration, resulting in cystoid spaces formation. Tractional causes include vitreomacular traction, epiretinal membranes and myopic foveoschisis. Surgical treatment does not always allow cystoid space resorption. In inherited retinal dystrophies, cystoid spaces may be part of the disease as in X-linked retinoschisis or enhanced S-cone syndrome, or occur occasionally as in bestrophinopathies, retinitis pigmentosa and allied diseases, congenital microphthalmia, choroideremia, gyrate atrophy and Bietti crystalline dystrophy. In macular telangiectasia type 2, cystoid spaces and cavitations do not depend on the fluid leakage from telangiectasia. Various causes affecting RPE function may result in NVCM such as chronic central serous chorioretinopathy and paraneoplastic syndromes. Non-exudative age macular degeneration may also be complicated by intraretinal cystoid spaces in the absence of fluorescein leakage. In these diseases, cystoid spaces occur in a context of retinal cell loss. Various causes of optic atrophy, including open-angle glaucoma, result in microcystoid spaces in the inner nuclear layer due to a retrograde transsynaptic degeneration. Lastly, drug toxicity may also induce cystoid maculopathy. Identifying NVCM on multimodal imaging, including fluorescein angiography if needed, allows guiding the diagnosis of the causative disease and choosing adequate treatment when available.
Topics: Humans; Glaucoma, Open-Angle; Macular Edema; Fluorescein Angiography; Macular Degeneration; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Retinal Telangiectasis
PubMed: 35927124
DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101092 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2022The hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive inborn error of the urea cycle caused by mutations in the gene....
The hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive inborn error of the urea cycle caused by mutations in the gene. Besides the well-known metabolic complications, patients often present intercurrent infections associated with acute hyperammonemia and metabolic decompensation. However, it is currently unknown whether intercurrent infections are associated with immunological alterations besides the known metabolic imbalances. Herein, we describe the case of a 3-years-old girl affected by the HHH syndrome caused by two novel gene mutations associated with immune phenotypic and functional alterations. She was admitted to the hospital with an episode of recurrent otitis, somnolence, confusion, and lethargy. Laboratory tests revealed severe hyperammonemia, elevated serum levels of liver transaminases, hemostasis alterations, hyperglutaminemia and strikingly increased orotic aciduria. Noteworthy, serum protein electrophoresis showed a reduction in the gamma globulin fraction. Direct sequencing of the gene revealed two heterozygous non-conservative substitutions in the exon 5: c.649G>A (p.Gly217Arg) and c.706A>G (p.Arg236Gly). analysis indicated that both mutations significantly impair protein structure and function and are consistent with the patient clinical status confirming the diagnosis of HHH syndrome. In addition, the immune analysis revealed reduced levels of serum IgG and striking phenotypic and functional alterations in the T and B cell immune compartments. Our study has identified two non-previously described mutations in the gene underlying the HHH syndrome. Moreover, we are reporting for the first time functional and phenotypic immunologic alterations in this rare inborn error of metabolism that would render the patient immunocompromised and might be related to the high frequency of intercurrent infections observed in patients bearing urea cycle disorders. Our results point out the importance of a comprehensive analysis to gain further insights into the underlying pathophysiology of the disease that would allow better patient care and quality of life.
Topics: Amino Acid Transport Systems, Basic; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Hyperammonemia; Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; Ornithine; Quality of Life; Urea Cycle Disorders, Inborn
PubMed: 35711415
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.861516