However, prenatal testing may be available for pregnancies identified to be at an increased risk (if both parents are unaffected carrier or one parent is affected and the other in a carrier).Acanthocytes are seen on blood smear. Since there is no or little assimilation of chylomicrons, their levels in plasma remains low.The inability to absorb fat in the ileum will result in steatorrhea, or fat in the stool. As a result, this can be clinically diagnosed when foul-smelling stool is encountered. Low levels of plasma chylomicron are also characteristic.There is an absence of apolipoprotein B. On intestinal biopsy, vacuoles containing lipids are seen in enterocytes. This disorder may also result in fat accumulation in the liver (hepatic steatosis). Because the epithelial cells of the bowel lack the ability to place fats into chylomicrons, lipids accumulate at the surface of the cell, crowding the functions that are necessary for proper absorption.Multiple related disorders present with similar symptoms as abetalipoproteinemia that can provide a useful diagnosis through comparisons. Some of those disorders are:

Treatment
Treatment normally consists of rigorous dieting, involving massive amounts of vitamin E. High-dose Vitamin E therapy helps the body restore and produce lipoproteins, which people with abetalipoproteinemia usually lack. Vitamin E also helps keep skin and eyes healthy; studies show that many affected males will have vision problems later on in life. Common additional supplementation includes medium chain fatty acids and linoleic acid. Treatments also aim to slow the progression of nervous system abnormalities.
Idarubicin  or 4-demethoxydaunorubicin is an anthracycline antileukemic drug. It inserts itself into DNA and prevents DNA unwinding by interfering with the enzyme topoisomerase II. It is an analog of daunorubicin, but the absence of a methoxy group increases its fat solubility and cellular uptake. Similar to other anthracyclines, it also induces histone eviction from chromatin.It belongs to the family of drugs called antitumor antibiotics. It is currently combined with cytosine arabinoside as a first line treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. It is used for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis.It is distributed under the trade names Zavedos (UK) and Idamycin (USA). Side effects
Diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting are common among patients treated with idarubicin. References
External links
Idarubicin bound to proteins in the PDB