in the 1980’s, medium-chain acyl-coa dehydrogenase deficiency (mcadd) was first described in the literature as three children who presented with coma, hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia, and fatty liver while fasting. these symptoms while similar to reye’s syndrome, were found to be due to an inability to metabolize medium chain fatty acids during fasting periods. fatty acids are utilized by the body...

metabolic myopathies are genetically inherited disorders of muscle energy production that result in skeletal muscle dysfunction. they are a large group of diseases with diverse inborn errors of metabolism, in particular muscle energy production, and including disorders of glycogen (lysosomal and non-lysosomal glycogenoses), lipid (disorders of fatty acid b-oxidation, primary carnitine deficienc...

cDNA encoding the precursor of rat liver medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.3) was cloned and sequenced. The longest cDNA insert isolated was 1866 bases in length. This cDNA encodes the entire protein of 421-amino acids including a 25-amino acid leader peptide and a 396-amino acid mature polypeptide. The identity of the medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase clone was confirmed by matc...

Genetic deficiency of short-chain acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase activity was demonstrated in cultured fibroblasts from a 2-yr-old female whose early postnatal life was complicated by poor feeding, emesis, and failure to thrive. She demonstrated progressive skeletal muscle weakness and developmental delay. Her plasma total carnitine level (35 nmol/ml) was low-normal, but was esterified to ...

Acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and acyl-CoA oxidases are two closely related FAD-containing enzyme families that are present inmitochondria andperoxisomes, respectively. They catalyze the dehydrogenation of acyl-CoA thioesters to the corresponding trans-2-enoyl-CoA. This review examines the structure of medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, as a representative of the dehydrogenase family, with respect ...

We have used radio-high pressure liquid chromatography to study the acyl-CoA ester intermediates and the acylcarnitines formed during mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. During oxidation of [U-14C]hexadecanoate by normal human fibroblast mitochondria, only the saturated acyl-CoA and acylcarnitine esters can be detected, supporting the concept that the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase step is rate-limitin...

common disorder of fatty acid oxidation affecting 1 in 13,000 newborns and is inherited as an autosomal recessive disorder. This enzyme deficiency results in the inability to catabolize medium-chain (6-12 carbon molecules) fatty acids for energy utilization. MCAD deficiency often presents in the first two years of life after viral illness or fasting. This inability to break down medium-chain li...