Inherited propionyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency in “ketotic hyperglycinemia”

Y. Edward Hsia; Katherine J. Scully; Leon E. Rosenberg

doi:10.1172/JCI106466

^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

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^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

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^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

^{Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510}

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Published in Volume 50, Issue 1 on January 1, 1971
J Clin Invest. 1971;50(1):127–130. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI106466.
© 1971 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published January 1, 1971 - Version history

Cultured fibroblasts from a young girl with ketotic hyperglycinemia were unable to oxidize propionate-¹⁴C to ¹⁴CO₂, but oxidized methylmalonate-¹⁴C and succinate-¹⁴C normally. This block in propionate catabolism was shown to result from a lack of propionyl-CoA carboxylase activity. The carboxylase deficiency was not due to the presence of an intracellular inhibitor and it was not corrected by biotin, a known cofactor for the enzyme. Both of her parents' fibroblasts had approximately 50% of normal propionyl-CoA carboxylase activity. These results demonstrate that ketotic hyperglycinemia and propionicacidemia are the same disease, caused by a mutation of the propionyl-CoA carboxylase apoenzyme, which is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. This enzymatic localization provides an explanation for the remarkable clinical and chemical similarity between ketotic hyperglycinemia and methylmalonicaciduria and offers a potential means of antenatal detection of this disorder.

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