Clinical and Biochemical Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Peroxisomal Disorders.

Peroxisomal disorders are a heterogeneous group of genetic metabolic disorders, caused by a defect in peroxisome biogenesis or a deficiency of a single peroxisomal enzyme. The peroxisomal disorders include the Zellweger spectrum disorders, the rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata spectrum disorders, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, and multiple single enzyme deficiencies. There are several core phenotypes caused by peroxisomal dysfunction that clinicians can recognize. The diagnosis is suggested by biochemical testing in blood and urine and confirmed by functional assays in cultured skin fibroblasts, followed by mutation analysis. This review describes the phenotype of the main peroxisomal disorders and possible pitfalls in (laboratory) diagnosis to aid clinicians in the recognition of this group of diseases.

Clinical approach to inherited peroxisomal disorders: a series of 27 patients.

To illustrate the clinical and biochemical heterogeneity of peroxisomal disorders, we report our experience with 27 patients seen personally between 1982 and 1997. Twenty patients presented with a phenotype corresponding either to Zellweger syndrome, neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy, or infantile Refsum disease, 3 of whom had a peroxisomal disorder due to a single enzyme defect. One patient had a mild form of rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata, 1 had classic Refsum disease. Finally, 5 patients presented with clinical manifestations that were either unusually mild or completely atypical, and initially did not arouse suspicion of a peroxisomal disorder. They showed multiple defects of peroxisomal functions with one or several functions remaining intact, suggesting a peroxisome biogenesis disorder. The defect in peroxisome biogenesis was further characterized by variable expression in different tissues and/or individual cells in 5 patients. Studies restricted to fibroblasts failed to identify abnormalities in this group. We demonstrate that clinical manifestations of peroxisomal disorders may be very mild or completely atypical, and therefore, peroxisomal disorders should be considered in a variety of clinical settings. Furthermore, we suggest performing extensive peroxisomal investigations in every patient suspected of suffering from a peroxisomal disorder, even when the clinical presentation is typical.

Lipoprotein[a] is not present in the plasma of patients with some peroxisomal disorders.

Peroxisomal disorders arise either from defects in the biogenesis of peroxisomes or from the defective synthesis of one or more peroxisomal enzymes. These defects result in metabolic disturbances in peroxisomal beta-oxidation of various fatty acids and derivatives and/or in the biosynthesis of ether lipids. In the current study, lipoprotein levels were determined in plasma samples from patients diagnosed with one of four different peroxisomal disorders. While low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were found to be within the normal range, lipoprotein[a] (Lp[a]) could not be detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in plasma from patients with cerebro-hepato-renal (Zellweger) syndrome (ZS) and rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP). Conversely, Lp[a] was clearly present in control plasma obtained from healthy newborns and from patients affected with one of two other peroxisomal disorders, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) and Refsum disease (RD) as determined by ELISA. The lack of Lp[a] in plasma of patients with ZS may result from defective secretion of apolipoprotein[a] (apo[a]) (the distinguishing protein component of Lp[a]), as apo[a] mRNA transcripts were clearly present in ZS livers as assessed by PCR, and intracellular apo[a] protein was detected in total liver homogenates from ZS patients as determined by Western blot analysis. Furthermore, LDL present in the plasma of ZS patients was able to associate with recombinant apo[a] in an in vitro Lp[a] assembly assay.

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata-like phenotype in a newborn male with normal peroxisomal function.

A newborn male with the characteristic phenotype of classic rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP) and with the usual and severe radiographic skeletal abnormalities is described. The parents were young, healthy, and not consanguineous; the mother had not used licit or illicit drugs, alcohol, or tobacco during pregnancy and had not been exposed to radiation or teratogenic chemicals. The clinical phenotype led us to study peroxisomal function. Plasmalogen content in erythrocytes, membrane, and fibroblasts; dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase (DHAP-AT), alkyldehydroxyaceton phosphate synthetase (a gift from Professor Henk van der Boch, Utrech) in fibroblasts; and phytanic and pristanic acids in plasma showed normal values. Immunocytofluorescence study with antibodies against peroxisomal membrane showed normal organelles. We found no reference in the literature of a case of RCDP with normal peroxisomal functions, but non-CDP has been described with peroxisomal dysfunction. This phenotype (RCDP) may be due to other metabolic error.