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Biomedical subjects

R E Stevenson

Publications and source records attributed to R E Stevenson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Menkes disease: a biochemical abnormality in cultured human fibroblasts.

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with Menkes disease, an X-linked disorder involving a defect in copper metabolism, were analyzed for copper concentration by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. These cultures consistently exhibited elevated copper concentrations (mean = 335.5 ng of copper per mg of protein) when compared to control fibroblast cultures (mean = 59.2 ng of copper per mg of protein). External factors that could influence the copper content of cultures were found not to affect the differences in copper concentration between control and Menkes cells. Furthermore, Menkes cells could be differentiated from cultured fibroblasts of controls, of presumed heterozygotes, and of Wilson's disease patients by copper concentration. These observations led to the conclusion that the increased copper content of cultured Menkes cells was characteristic of Menkes disease, resulting from the expression of the genetic abnormality. This provides a genetic marker, a defect in metal metabolism demonstrated in human fibroblasts, that should prove valuable in both the diagnosis of Menkes disease and in the study of the fundamental defect of this genetic disorder.

Brain Diseases↗

Discordance for Cornelia de Lange syndrome in twins.

A male infant, the first-born of twins, with features of Cornealia de Lange syndrome is described. His normal twin was discordnat for 3 of the 14 blood loci tested. Chromosomes from the affected infant appeared normal. Though the aetiological basis for the Cornealia de Lange syndrome remains obscure, most authorities accept genetic rather than environmental causation. The present findings of discordance for Cornelia de Lange syndrome in twins support this view but do not clarify the mode of inheritance.

De Lange Syndrome↗

The iduronidase-deficient mucopolysaccharidoses: clinical and roentgenorgraphic features.

Hurler and Scheie syndromes, two of the six clinically distinct mucopolysaccharidoses, are deficient in the same lysosomal enzyme, alpha-L-iduronidase. A third group of iduronidase-deficient patients can now be identified during the pediatric years using clinical and radiographic criteria. Based on inferential evidence for allelism between the Hurler and Scheie genes, the occurrence of genetic compounds which simultaneously carry both mutant alleles may be predicted to occur. This can be considered analogous to the structural gene mutations leading to hemoglobin SC disease. Four patients with phenotypes intermediate between Hurler and Scheie syndromes are flet to represent genetic compounds of this type. Both clinical and roentgenographic features are helpful in distinguishing these patients from those with Hurler syndrome or Scheie syndrome. Fibroblast correction characteristics identical to those of Hurler syndrome and Scheie syndrome and absence of consanguinity are additional features which favor classification as genetic compounds. The possibility of a third mutant allele at the Hurler-Scheie locus or of extreme phenotype variation are not considered likely alternative explantations. Depending on the frequency of the Scheie syndrome and the Hurler syndrome, genetic compounds may occur with an intermediate frequency or may be more common than either homozygous condition.

Adolescent↗

Mannosidosis: deficiency of a specific alpha-mannosidase component in cultured fibroblasts.

Evidence is prisented which shows that the enzymatic defect in mannosidosis, the deficiency of alpha-mannosidase, is expressed in cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with mannosidosis. Additionally, by Cellogel electrophoresis, the enzyme can be separated into two major components (a heat stable component missing in mannosidosis fibroblasts with a pH optimum of 3.6-4.0 and a heat labile component present in mannosidosis fibroblasts with a pH optimum of 5.6-6.0). The specific activity and electrophoresis of alpha-mannosidase from cultured amniotic fluid cells are also shown to be similar to cultured skin fibroblasts.

Amniotic Fluid↗