• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.76-87
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• 2005

Various disorders cause hyperammonemia during childhood. Amongthem are those caused by inherited defects in urea synthesis and related metabolic pathways. These disorders can be grouped into two types: disorders of the enzymes that comprise the urea cycle, and disorders of the transporters or metabolites of theamino acids related to the urea cycle. Principal clinical features of these disorders are caused by elevated levels of blood ammonium. Additional disease-specific symptoms are related to the particular metabolic defect. These specific clinical manifestations are often due to an excess or lack of specific amino acids. Treatment of urea cycle disorders and related metabolic diseases consists of nutritional restriction of proteins, administration of specific amino acids, and use of alternative pathways for discarding excess nitrogen. Although combinations of these treatments are extensively employed, the prognosis of severe cases remains unsatisfactory. Liver transplantation is one alternative for which a better prognosis is reported.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 1997

The amino acids formed by degradation of proteins ingested produce ammonia. The ammonia which is broken down and excreted as urea through a process known as the Klebs-Hensleit cycle or the urea cycle (Rezvani, 1995). The urea cycle consists of five enzymes necessary for the synthesis of carbamyl phosphate, citrulline, argininosuccinate, arginine, and urea: carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), argininosuccinate synthetase (AS), argininosuccinate lyase (AL), and arginase (ARG) (Lloyd, 1992). Congenital deficiencies of the enzymes involved in the urea cycle are diseases that are almost fatal without treatment, showing symptoms like vomiting, lethargy, dyspnea, and coma due to hyperammonemia coming from the accumulation of ammonia and metabolic precursors resulting from the deficiency of one of these enzymes (Batshaw and Brusilow, 1983). Among these, the disease manifested by the congenital deficiency of argininosuccinate synthetase (AS) which is associated with the formation of argininosuccinate in citrulline is called argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency or citrullinemia. There have been two reports on this so far in Korea; one in July 1987 by Kim et al. and the other by Park et al. in 1995. We are to report a case of successful treatment of a child with citrullinemia who was transferred to our hospital due to dyspnea, lethargy, feeding difficulties, convulsions and cyanosis together with some document studies related to this case.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2005

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.18-22
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• 2018

Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase I (CPS1) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive urea cycle disorder that causes hyperammonemic crisis. CPS1 is the first enzyme encoded by the CPS1 gene, which catalyzes the first step of the urea cycle. In CPS1 deficiency, ammonia, the toxic metabolite produced by the interruption of the urea cycle, is accumulated in the blood and brain, leading to hyperammonemic encephalopathy and irreversible brain damage. Here, we report a fatal case of neonatal-onset CPS1 deficiency in a 4-day-old girl presenting with recurrent seizures, who was revealed to be homozygous for c.1529delG ($p.Gly510Alafs^*5$).

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.77-79
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• 2002

The urea cycle, consisting of a series of six enzymatic reactions, plays key roles to prevent the accumulation of toxic nitrogenous compound and synthesize arginine de novo. Five well characterized diseases have been described, resulting from an enzymatic defect in the biosynthesis of one of the normally expressed enzyme. This presentation will focus on two representative diseases; ornithine transcarbamylase(OTC) deficiency and citrullinemia(argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency). OTC deficiency is one of the most common inborn error of urea cycle, which is inherited in X-linked manner. We identified 17 different mutations in 20 unrelated Korean patients with OTC deficiency; L9X, R26P, R26X, T44I, R92X, G100R, R141Q, G195R, M205T, H214Y, D249G, R277W, F281S, 853 del C, R320X, V323M and 10 bp del at nt. 796-805. These mutations occur at well conserved nucleotide sequences across species or CpG hot spot. The L9X and R26X lead to the disruption of leader sequences, required for directing mitochondrial localization of the OTC precursor. Their phenotypes are severe, and neonatal onset. The G100R, R277W and V323M mutations were uniquely identified in patients with late onset OTC deficiency. The other genotypes are associated with neonatal onset. Out of 20 patients with OTC deficiency, only 6 patients are alive; two were liver transplanted, and normal in growth and development at 2, 4 years after transplantation respectively. Citrullinemia is an autosomal recessive disease, caused by the mutations in the argininosuccinate synthetase(ASS) gene. We identified in 3 major mutations in 11 unrelated Korean patients with citrullinemia; G324S, $IVS6^{-2}$ A to G, and 67 bp ins at nt 1125-1126. Among these, the 67 base pair insertion mutation is novel. The allele frequency of each mutation is; G324S(45%), IVS6-2 A to G(32%), and 67 base pair insertion(14%). All patients are diagnosed at neonatal or infantile age. Interestingly, two patients presented with stroke like episode. Out of 11 patients, 5 patients died. Among 6 patients alive, one patient was successfully liver transplanted.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.123-134
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• 2016

Mitochondrial disease is a group of disorders caused by dysfunctional mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell. Diagnosis of mitochondrial disease is difficult, subtle, and has many problems. It is more likely to miss the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease, especially in borderline cases where the symptoms of the disease are not severe. In this regard, urine organic acid analysis is noninvasive and can increase the sensitivity and specificity through repeated load test with few changes according to the specimen. And, It is considered to be suitable as a screening test for mitochondrial diseases because it has a great advantage of distinguishing from organic aciduria, urea cycle disorder and fatty acid oxidation disorder which may have similar symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features and age distribution of mitochondrial diseases diagnosed by organic acid analysis and to establish the policy of diagnosis and treatment based on this study.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2016

Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1) deficiency is an autosomal recessive urea cycle disorder which causes hyperammonemia. CPS1 is the first enzyme step in the urea cycle and almost patients present their symptoms during neonatal period. We report a case of CPS1 deficiency in a boy who developed symptoms including lethargy and seizure at 3 days of age. The ammonia level was up to $2,325{\mu}mol/L$, sodium benzoate (250 mg/kg/d) and high calories of both dextrose and lipid was promptly administered. Central access by experienced pediatric surgeon and emergent continuous hemodialysis by pediatric nephrologist was performed within 3 hours and ammonia was less than $100{\mu}mol/L$ at 5 days of age. Currently, he has showed excellent response to treatments including scavenging drugs and a low-protein diet. Despite of diffuse increasing signal intensity on cerebral white matters and basal ganglia on brain MRI, his development and weight gain were good at the last follow-up at 11 months of age. Molecular assay of the CPS1 gene demonstrated that patient had compound heterozygous for c.1529del ($p.Gly510Alafs^*5$) in exon 14 and c.3142-1G>C (IVS25(-1)G>C) in intron 25 and exon 26 boundary. The splicing mutation was novel mutation and inherited from patient's mother. Here, we report a neonatal lethal type CPS1 deficiency patient having novel mutation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2016

Newborn screening of some urea cycle disorders has little benefits because of early severe symptoms before the result, low sensitivity (especially hypocitrullinemia) and poor prognosis. But in case of citrullinemia, citrin deficiency and argininosuccinic aciduria diagnosed as elevated citrulline, newborn screening is helpful for early diagnosis and treatment before the symptom. Distinction between the clinical forms of these diseases is based on clinical findings and biochemical results, however, they may not be clearcut. Treatment is different from each other, so exact diagnosis is essential. Here, the diagnostic algorithm for elevated citrulline after tandem mass screening has been proposed. Minimizing total process time from sampling to report of the results is important in Korea for diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.148-154
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• 2016

A urea cycle disorder is a condition caused by a defect of the enzymes in the urea cycle, and deficiency of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), which converts carbamoyl phosphate and ornithine into citrulline, is the most common type of the disorder. OTC deficiency induces the accumulation of precursors of urea, ammonia, and glutamine, leading to neurological symptoms including hypotonia, respiratory failure, seizure, lethargy, and coma and sometimes to death. Because OTC deficiency is inherited in an X-linked manner, typical symptoms such as vomiting, poor feeding, and lethargy appear mainly in male neonates. We recently had a case that presented with neonatal onset lethargy, vomiting, and apnea in a 4-day-old boy. He was diagnosed with OTC deficiency by biochemical phenotype, including hyperammonemia and an increased orotic acid level in the urine. Genetic analysis of the OTC gene showed a novel mutation c.780_781insCAGGCAGTGT (p.Ile261Glnfs*35). He was treated for hyperammonemia using continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) at 118 hours after birth. After 4 days of CVVH, his consciousness and blood ammonia concentration were normalized, and he was discharged at the age of 53 days. At around 12 months of age, bilateral femur fractures and osteomyelitis occurred in this patient. Two months after the fracture, he died of septic shock, insulin-resistant hyperglycemia, and multi-organ failure.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2022

The most common urea cycle disorder is ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. More than 80 percent of patients with symptomatic ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency are late-onset, which can present various phenotypes from infancy to adulthood. With no regards to the severity of the disease, characteristic fluctuating courses due to hyperammonemia may develop unexpectedly, and can be precipitated by various metabolic stressors. Late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency is not merely related to a type of genetic variation, but also to the complex relationship between genetic and environmental factors that result in hyperammonemia; therefore, it is difficult to predict the prevalence of neurological symptoms in late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Most common acute neurological manifestations include psychological changes, seizures, cerebral edema, and death; subacute neurological manifestations include developmental delays, learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, executive function deficits, and emotional and behavioral problems. This review aims to increase awareness of late-onset ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, allowing for an efficient use of biochemical and genetic tests available for diagnosis, ultimately leading to earlier treatment of patients.