Introduction Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is an inborn error of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) metabolism. We report an infant with MSUD who developed 2 episodes of cutaneous lesions as a result of isoleucine deficiency and zinc deficiency, respectively. Case Presentation A 12-day-old male infant was presented with poor milk intake and lethargy. The diagnosis of MSUD was made based on...

Meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD) is a biological process that searches pairs of homologous chromosomes (homologs) for segments of DNA that are unpaired. Genes found within unpaired segments are silenced for the duration of meiosis. In this report, we describe the identification and characterization of Neurospora crassa sad-7, a gene that encodes a protein with an RNA recognition motif (...

Ten infants with classical maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) and two with variant MSUD had a total of 26 CT scans and 13 MR examinations of the brain during different stages of their disease. We found that inter- and intrapatient analyses of CT and MR findings at times ranging from 3 days to 7 months were typical enough to suggest the MSUD diagnosis. Imaging studies showed the natural course of ...

18-Methyleicosanoic acid (18-MEA) is thought to be covalently bound to the outer surface of human hair and is a major component of the outer beta-layer of the cuticular cell membrane complex (CCMC). Cuticular delamination, whether this occurs between the outer beta- and delta-layers or within the plane of the beta-layer, results in a fresh layer of 18-MEA being exposed at the newly-revealed sur...

BACKGROUND Newborn screening for maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) relies on finding increased concentrations of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and valine by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). d-Alloisoleucine (allo-Ile) is the only pathognomonic marker of MSUD, but it cannot be identified by existing screening methods because it is not differentiated from isobaric am...

The presenting symptoms and clinical course of 2 cases of intermittent maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) are described. Intermittent MSUD is a potentially life-threatening metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of branched-chain a-keto acid dehydrogenase, the enzyme complex that decarboxylates the 3 branched-chain amino acids. In contrast to classic MSUD, children with the intermittent form s...

In Neurospora crassa, genes lacking a pairing partner during meiosis are suppressed by a process known as meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD). To identify novel MSUD components, we have developed a high-throughput reverse-genetic screen for use with the N. crassa knockout library. Here we describe the screening method and the characterization of a gene (sad-3) subsequently discovered. SAD-...

PURPOSE We aimed to evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical features of maple syrup urine disease (MSUD). METHODS This retrospective study consisted of 10 MSUD patients confirmed by genetic testing. All patients underwent brain MRI. Phenotype, genotype, and areas of brain injury on MRI were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS Six patients (60%) had the classic form of MSUD ...

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) has an incidence of 1:125,000 newborns in Ireland. Patients, when fasting, or in a catabolic state build up toxic metabolites leading to progressive neurological dysfunction. We describe the necessary peri-operative management of a patient with MSUD who developed symptomatic gallstones requiring a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Genetic disorders of BCAA metabolism produce amino acidopathies and various forms of organic aciduria with severe clinical consequences. A metabolic block in the oxidative decarboxylation of BCAA caused by mutations in the mitochondrial branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complex (BCKDC) results in Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) or branched-chain ketoaciduria. There are presently fiv...