News tagged with metabolic diseases

Brain region may hold key to aging

While the search continues for the Fountain of Youth, researchers may have found the body's "fountain of aging": the brain region known as the hypothalamus. For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein ...

Neuroscience created May 01, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (21) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Discovery of new hormone opens doors to new type 2 diabetes treatments

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have discovered that a particular type of protein (hormone) found in fat cells helps regulate how glucose (blood sugar) is controlled and metabolized (used for energy) in ...

Diabetes created May 07, 2013 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Type 1 diabetes and heart disease linked by inflammatory protein

Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes appears to increase the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death among people with high blood sugar, partly by stimulating the production of calprotectin, a protein that sparks ...

Inflammatory disorders created May 07, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Structure that edits messenger RNA transcripts defective in two different forms of motor neuron diseases

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are degenerative motor neuron diseases in which the key mutated genes are involved in RNA metabolism. This similarity suggests that a ...

Medical research created Apr 26, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers discover endogenous antibiotic in the brain

Scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have discovered that immune cells in the brain can produce a substance that prevents bacterial growth: namely itaconic acid. ...

Medical research created May 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Defective cellular waste removal explains why Gaucher patients often develop Parkinson's disease

Gaucher disease causes debilitating and sometimes fatal neurodegeneration in early childhood. Recent studies have uncovered a link between the mutations responsible for Gaucher disease and an increased risk ...

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created May 23, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Inborn error of metabolism

Inborn errors of metabolism comprise a large class of genetic diseases involving disorders of metabolism. The majority are due to defects of single genes that code for enzymes that facilitate conversion of various substances (substrates) into others (products). In most of the disorders, problems arise due to accumulation of substances which are toxic or interfere with normal function, or to the effects of reduced ability to synthesize essential compounds. Inborn errors of metabolism are now often referred to as congenital metabolic diseases or inherited metabolic diseases, and these terms are considered synonymous.

The term inborn error of metabolism was coined by a British physician, Archibald Garrod (1857-1936), in the early 20th century (1908). He is known for work that prefigured the "one gene, one enzyme" hypothesis, based on his studies on the nature and inheritance of alkaptonuria. His seminal text, Inborn Errors of Metabolism was published in 1923.

For more information about Inborn error of metabolism, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: type 2 diabetes