Very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCAD deficiency), a rare autosomal recessive disorder, is characterized by hypoketotic hypoglycemia, cardiomyopathy, liver damage, and myopathy. VLCAD deficiency is caused by defects of ACADVL gene, which encodes VLCAD protein. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical, biochemical, prognosis and mutation spectrum of patients with VLCAD deficiency in mainland China. A total of Six families visited us, four patients (2 boys and 2 girls) were admitted in hospital due to liver dysfunction, hypoglycemia, and positive newborn screen result. The parents of the other two patients (2 girls) visited us for genetic consultation after their children's death. All the six patients had elevated level of serum tetradecenoylcarnitine (C14:1-carnitine), four of them showed decreased free carnitine (C0) level, and three had dicarboxylic aciduria. Eight types of mutations of the ACADVL gene were detected, three of them are novel, including c.563G > A (p.G188D) c.1387G > A (p.G463R) and c.1582_1586del (p.L529Sfs*31). The p.R450H mutation accounts for 9/52 alleles (5/40 in previous study of 20 unrelated patients, and 4/12 in this study) of genetically diagnosed Chinese VLCAD deficiency cases. The four alive patients (Patient 1-4) responded well to diet prevention and drug therapy with stable hepatic dysfunction condition. In conclusion, we describe three novel mutations of the ACADVL gene among six unrelated families with VLCAD deficiency. Moreover, we suggest that the p.R450H may be a potential hotspot mutation in the Chinese population.
Keywords: ACADVL; Fatty acid oxidation dysfunction; Gene; VLCAD deficiency; Very-long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency.
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