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Articles |
1
Laboratoire de Biochimie 1, Hôpital Bicêtre AP-HP, Paris, France.
2
Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and
Medical Genetics, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905.
a Address correspondence to this author at: Institute of Neurology, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Fax 31-24-3540297; e-mail R.Wevers{at}ckslkn.azn.nl
Background: A38-year-old man presented with a history of fish odor (since age 5) and unusual muscle fatigue with increased serum creatine kinase. Our aim was to identify the metabolic error in this new condition.
Methods: We used 1H NMR spectroscopy to study serum and urine from the patient.
Results: The concentration of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) was increased ~100-fold in the serum and ~20-fold in the urine. The presence of DMG as a storage product was confirmed by use of 13C NMR spectroscopy and gas chromatographymass spectrometry. The high concentration of DMG was caused by a deficiency of the enzyme dimethylglycine dehydrogenase (DMGDH). A homozygous missense mutation was found in the DMGDH gene of the patient.
Conclusions: DMGDH deficiency must be added to the differential diagnosis of patients complaining of a fish odor. This deficiency is the first inborn error of metabolism discovered by use of in vitro 1H NMR spectroscopy of body fluids.
© 1999 American Association for Clinical Chemistry
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