inborn error of metabolism

error

 [er´or]

a defect or mistake in structure or function.

inborn error of metabolism a genetically determined biochemical disorder in which a specific enzyme defect produces a metabolic block that may have pathologic consequences at birth, as in phenylketonuria, or in later life.

measurement error the difference between what exists in reality and what is measured by a measurement method.

Type I error the rejection of a null hypothesis that is true.

Type II error acceptance of a null hypothesis that is false.

Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

in·born er·ror of me·tab·o·lism

a group of disorders, each of which involves a disorder of a single unique enzyme, genetic in origin and operating from birth; effects are ascribable to accumulation of the substrate on which the enzyme normally acts (for example, phenylketonuria), to deficiency of the product of the enzyme (for example, albinism), or to forcing metabolism through an auxiliary pathway (for example, oxaluria).

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

inborn error of metabolism

Any of the expanding group, now in the hundreds, of inherited metabolic and biochemical disorders, that are divisible into those affecting

1. Small molecules–eg, simple sugars, amino or organic acids, that often have an acute onset in infancy/childhood;.

2. Large molecules–eg, ↑ in 'storage diseases'–eg, mucopolysaccharidoses and glycogen storage diseases that affect older children

Inborn errors of metabolism consequences  

Loss of certain molecules–eg, albinism–defect of tyrosinase or Ehlers-Danlos disease–defect of lysyl-hydroxylase or others of a vast array of enzymes

Accumulation of normal metabolites–eg, alkaptonuria–defect of homogentisic acid oxidase or galactosemia–defect of galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase

Transport defects–eg, cystinuria–dibasic amino acids or intestinal disaccharidase deficiency

Defects in erythrocyte metabolism–eg, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

Pigment defects–eg, acute intermittent porphyria

Defects in mineral metabolism–eg, Wilson's disease

Vitamin defects–eg, vitamin D-dependent rickets

Defects in intestinal absorption–eg, cystic fibrosis

Other defects of unknown origin–eg, achondroplasia  

.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

inborn error of metabolism

an inherited biochemical abnormality in humans due to enzymic deficiencies. The term was coined by Archibald GARROD in the early 1900s, who theorized that various conditions he had studied in hospital cases were due to defective enzymes, causing the breakdown of biochemical pathways and the build-up of intermediate chemicals in the body. Garrod's work was not recognized as important until the ONE GENE/ONE ENZYME HYPOTHESIS was proposed in the 1940s.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

Inborn error of metabolism

A rare enzyme deficiency; children with inborn errors of metabolism do not have certain enzymes that the body requires to maintain organ functions. Inborn errors of metabolism can cause brain damage and mental retardation if left untreated. Phenylketonuria is an inborn error of metabolism.

Mentioned in: Mental Retardation

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.