PURPOSE This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). The level of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an oxidized DNA base common in cells undergoing oxidative stress, was measured in leukocyte DNA from patients with LHON and normal control subjects. METHODS The 8-OHdG and deoxyguanosine ...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) (known as "Harding disease") is a chance finding, or the 2 disorders are mechanistically linked. METHODS We performed a United Kingdom-wide prospective cohort study of prevalent cases of MS with LHON mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. The new cases were compared with p...

BACKGROUND Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and a multiple sclerosis (MS)-like illness appear to coexist 50 times more frequently than would be expected by chance. This association of LHON and MS (LMS) raises an important question about whether there could be a common pathophysiological mechanism involving mitochondrial dysfunction. OBJECTIVE The primary aim was to define MRI featur...

PURPOSE Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a common cause of genetically determined blindness in young adults. LHON preferentially affects males and is primarily due to a mutation affecting complex I genes of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). While LHON primarily affects men, a number of women are affected. Segregation analysis has implicated an interacting recessive X-chromosomal locus, with...

Some evidence suggests that the primary locus of the lesion in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) may be intraocular rather than retrobulbar. To clarify this issue, the condition of the retrobulbar portion of the optic nerve was evaluated in patients with the acute stage of LHON. High resolution MRI with fast spin echo sequences of the optic nerve complex in the orbit was carried out. F...

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is thought to be the most common disease resulting from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) point mutations, and transmitochondrial cytoplasmic hybrid (cybrid) cell lines are the most frequently used model for understanding the pathogenesis of mitochondrial disorders. We have used oligonucleotide microarrays and a novel study design based on shared transcripts t...

BACKGROUND Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON, MIM 535000) is one of the most common mitochondrial genetic disorders caused by three primary mtDNA mutations (m.3460G>A, m.11778G>A and m. 14484T>C). The clinical expression of LHON is affected by many additional factors, e.g. mtDNA background, nuclear genes, and environmental factors. Hitherto, there is no comprehensive study of Chinese LHON...

PURPOSE Focal neurodegeneration of the optic nerve in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is primarily due to a maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA mutation. However, the markedly reduced penetrance of LHON and segregation pattern of visual failure within families implicates an interacting nuclear genetic locus modulating the phenotype. Folate deficiency is known to cause bilateral opti...

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is rarely associated with multiple sclerosis-like features. We present a case of a 65-year-old African American woman with LHON masquerading as neuromyelitis optica (NMO). We highlight the features of the clinical examination and MRI that were suggestive of an alternative diagnosis and review the literature regarding LHON and multiple sclerosis. The diag...

Inheritance of one of three primary mutations at positions 11778, 3460 or 14484 of the mitochondrial genome in subunits of Complex I causes Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a specific degeneration of the optic nerve, resulting in bilateral blindness. It has been unclear why inheritance of a systemic mitochondrial mutation would result in a specific neurodegeneration. To address the n...