Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is a disorder of the urea cycle and ornithine degradation pathway. Clinical manifestations and age of onset vary among individuals even in the same family. Neonatal onset (~8% of affected individuals). Manifestations of hyperammonemia usually begin 24-48 hours after feeding begins and can include lethargy, somnolence, refusal to feed, vomiting, tachypnea with respiratory alkalosis, and/or seizures. Infantile, childhood, and adult onset (~92%). Affected individuals may present with: Chronic neurocognitive deficits (including developmental delay, ataxia, spasticity, learning disabilities, cognitive deficits, and/or unexplained seizures); Acute encephalopathy secondary to hyperammonemic crisis precipitated by a variety of factors; and Chronic liver dysfunction (unexplained elevation of liver transaminases with or without mild coagulopathy, with or without mild hyperammonemia and protein intolerance). Neurologic findings and cognitive abilities can continue to deteriorate despite early metabolic control that prevents hyperammonemia.

The spectrum of propionic acidemia (PA) ranges from neonatal-onset to late-onset disease. Neonatal-onset PA, the most common form, is characterized by a healthy newborn with poor feeding and decreased arousal in the first few days of life, followed by progressive encephalopathy of unexplained origin. Without prompt diagnosis and management, this is followed by progressive encephalopathy manifesting as lethargy, seizures, or coma that can result in death. It is frequently accompanied by metabolic acidosis with anion gap, lactic acidosis, ketonuria, hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia, and cytopenias. Individuals with late-onset PA may remain asymptomatic and suffer a metabolic crisis under catabolic stress (e.g., illness, surgery, fasting) or may experience a more insidious onset with the development of multiorgan complications including vomiting, protein intolerance, failure to thrive, hypotonia, developmental delays or regression, movement disorders, or cardiomyopathy. Isolated cardiomyopathy can be observed on rare occasion in the absence of clinical metabolic decompensation or neurocognitive deficits. Manifestations of neonatal and late-onset PA over time can include growth impairment, intellectual disability, seizures, basal ganglia lesions, pancreatitis, and cardiomyopathy. Other rarely reported complications include optic atrophy, hearing loss, premature ovarian insufficiency, and chronic renal failure.

Aminoacylase-1 deficiency (ACY1D) is a rare autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism characterized by increased urinary excretion of specific N-actyl amino acids. Most patients show neurologic abnormalities such as intellectual disability, seizures, hypotonia, and motor delay (summary by Ferri et al., 2014).

A Mendelian susceptibility or predisposition to herpes simplex infection induced encephalitis in which the cause of the diseas is a mutation in the TRAF3 gene.

MMERV is an episodic acute reversible encephalopathy that occurs in children and is frequently associated with a trigger, such as a febrile illness. Affected individuals have impaired consciousness, delirious behavior, and/or seizures with lip smacking or eye deviation. These changes are associated with white matter lesions in the brain that often occur in the splenium of the corpus callosum, but may occur in surrounding areas. The acute phase of the disorder can be treated with steroids, and most patients make a full neurologic recovery between episodes with no sequelae (summary by Kurahashi et al., 2018).

Sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase-deficiency (SQORD) is characterized by a variable phenotype ranging from no clinical symptoms to episodes of encephalopathy and Leigh syndrome-like (see 256000) brain lesions, with acute symptoms triggered by infections and fasting. Other features may include lactic acidosis and decreased mitochondrial respiratory chain complex IV activity in tissues. Most affected individuals are asymptomatic. Patients with encephalopathy may recover or die in childhood (Friederich et al., 2020).

Mitochondrial complex V deficiency nuclear type 4A (MC5DN4A) is an autosomal dominant metabolic disorder characterized by poor feeding and failure to thrive in early infancy. Laboratory studies show increased serum lactate, alanine, and ammonia, suggesting mitochondrial dysfunction. Some affected individuals show spontaneous resolution of these symptoms in early childhood and have subsequent normal growth and development, whereas others show developmental delay with impaired intellectual development and movement abnormalities, including dystonia, ataxia, or spasticity; these neurologic deficits are persistent (Lines et al., 2021, Zech et al., 2022). For a discussion of genetic heterogeneity of mitochondrial complex V deficiency, nuclear types, see MC5DN1 (604273).