A number of other ketotic acidurias also occur in infancy. The most important of these are methylmalonic acidemia, isovaleric acidemia, beta-keto acidemia, and lactic acidemia. Each of these disorders can become manifest with profound metabolic acidosis and intermittent lethargy, vomiting, tachypnea, tremors, twitching, convulsions, and coma, with early death in about half the patients and developmental retardation in those who survive. Rare subtypes of methylmalonic acidemia respond to vitamin B12. Isovaleric acidemia is characterized by a striking odor of stale perspiration, which has given it the sobriquet “sweaty foot syndrome.” Numerous metabolic defects, most commonly of pyruvate decarboxylase and pyruvate dehydrogenase, are responsible for the accumulation of lactic and pyruvic acids. The enzymatic defect of isovaleric acidemia also has been demonstrated in a recurrent form of episodic cerebellar ataxia and athetosis and in a persistent form in mitochondrial encephalopathies (Leigh disease), as described further on in this chapter.
A separate and rare deficiency of aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase has been described; the chemical signature is low levels of almost all catecholamines. This defect is associated with a peculiar movement disorder of oculogyric crises, dystonia and athetosis, and autonomic failure (see Swoboda et al).
A type II glutaric acidemia has also been observed in the neonatal period and causes episodes of acidosis with vomiting and hyperglycemia. Multiple congenital anomalies of brain and somatic structures and cardiomyopathy are conjoined. A diet low in the specific toxic amino acid and supplements of carnitine and riboflavin are recommended, but the effects are unclear.
In the nonketotic form of hyperglycinemia, there are high levels of glycine but no acidosis. The notable diagnostic finding is an elevation of the CSF glycine, several times higher than that of the blood. The effects on the nervous system are more devastating than in the ketotic form. In reported cases (the authors and our colleagues have seen several), the neonate is hypotonic, listless, and dyspneic, with dysconjugate eye movements, opisthotonic posturing, myoclonus, and seizures. A few such neonates survive to infancy but are extremely cognitively impaired and helpless. Spongy degeneration of the brain has been reported both in this disease and in the ketotic form (Shuman et al). No treatment has been effective in severe cases. In an atypical milder form, with neurologic abnormalities that appear in later infancy or childhood, reduction of dietary protein and administration of sodium benzoate in doses up to 250 mg/kg/d have been beneficial. The use of dextromethorphan, which blocks glycine receptors, is said to be effective in preventing seizures and coma.
These are a group of six diseases caused by inborn deficiencies of the enzymes of the Krebs-Henseleit urea cycle; they are designated as N-acetyl glutamate synthetase, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), argininosuccinic acid synthetase (citrullinemia), argininosuccinase deficiency, and arginase deficiency. Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinemia (HHH) and intrinsic protein intolerance are closely related disorders. They are identified by the finding of a persistent or episodic elevation of ammonia levels in the blood. A detailed account of these inherited hyperammonemic syndromes is contained in the review by Brusilow and Horwich.