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DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients

Hyperammonaemia is not an infrequent presentation in the newborn or neonatal period. While the majority are transitory in nature and due to infective processes or liver pathology/immaturity, a significant number are due to defects in enzymes of the urea cycle. This cycle has evolved to cope with was...

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Main Author: Swarts, Liezel Catharine
Other Authors: Henderson, Howard
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Division of Chemical Pathology 2018
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access_status_str Open Access
author Swarts, Liezel Catharine
author2 Henderson, Howard
author_browse Henderson, Howard
Swarts, Liezel Catharine
author_facet Henderson, Howard
Swarts, Liezel Catharine
author_sort Swarts, Liezel Catharine
collection Thesis
description Hyperammonaemia is not an infrequent presentation in the newborn or neonatal period. While the majority are transitory in nature and due to infective processes or liver pathology/immaturity, a significant number are due to defects in enzymes of the urea cycle. This cycle has evolved to cope with waste nitrogen disposal and the de novo synthesis of arginine. There are five distinct enzymatic steps in the urea cycle, and defects in each, result in a biochemically distinct disease. Four of these diseases, deficiencies of carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), argininosuccmic acid synthetase (ASS), and argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) can present dramatically within the first 24 to 48 hrs of life with progressive lethargy, hypothermia and apnea, all related to very high plasma ammonia levels. These diseases may also present later in infancy, childhood and adulthood with hyperammonemia and episodic mental status changes. The fifth defect, arginase deficiency presents as progressive spastic quadriplegia and mental retardation but with milder elevation of blood ammonia levels. The molecular genetics of these disorders in South Africans has not been explored and there is thus very little information on phenotype/genotype relationships, specific for citizens of this country. This study aims to correct this imbalance and has concentrated initially on OTC deficiency, which is X-linked and therefore the most common defect encountered. Initial work on this project has concentrated on subjects with a classical X-linked OTC phenotype.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:38.662Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
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publisher Division of Chemical Pathology
publisherStr Division of Chemical Pathology
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26752 DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients Swarts, Liezel Catharine Henderson, Howard Owen, Tricia chemical Pathology Hyperammonaemia is not an infrequent presentation in the newborn or neonatal period. While the majority are transitory in nature and due to infective processes or liver pathology/immaturity, a significant number are due to defects in enzymes of the urea cycle. This cycle has evolved to cope with waste nitrogen disposal and the de novo synthesis of arginine. There are five distinct enzymatic steps in the urea cycle, and defects in each, result in a biochemically distinct disease. Four of these diseases, deficiencies of carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), argininosuccmic acid synthetase (ASS), and argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) can present dramatically within the first 24 to 48 hrs of life with progressive lethargy, hypothermia and apnea, all related to very high plasma ammonia levels. These diseases may also present later in infancy, childhood and adulthood with hyperammonemia and episodic mental status changes. The fifth defect, arginase deficiency presents as progressive spastic quadriplegia and mental retardation but with milder elevation of blood ammonia levels. The molecular genetics of these disorders in South Africans has not been explored and there is thus very little information on phenotype/genotype relationships, specific for citizens of this country. This study aims to correct this imbalance and has concentrated initially on OTC deficiency, which is X-linked and therefore the most common defect encountered. Initial work on this project has concentrated on subjects with a classical X-linked OTC phenotype. 2018-01-09T08:53:20Z 2018-01-09T08:53:20Z 2004 Master Thesis Masters MSc (Med) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26752 eng application/pdf Division of Chemical Pathology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle chemical Pathology
Swarts, Liezel Catharine
DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
thesis_degree_str Master's
title DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
title_full DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
title_fullStr DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
title_full_unstemmed DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
title_short DNA analysis of Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency in South African patients
title_sort dna analysis of ornithine transcarbamylase otc deficiency in south african patients
topic chemical Pathology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26752
work_keys_str_mv AT swartsliezelcatharine dnaanalysisofornithinetranscarbamylaseotcdeficiencyinsouthafricanpatients