ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect potential mutation in ALDH5A1 gene for a family affected with succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency diagnosed by clinical inspection and urine screening.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Polymerase chain reaction and direct DNA sequencing were carried out for the affected child and her parents. Suspected ALDH5A1 gene mutations were verified in 100 healthy controls to exclude polymorphisms.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The child was found to have carried 2 heterozygous missense mutations in the coding region of ALDH5A1 gene, namely c.527G>A and c.691G>A, for which her mother and father were respectively heterozygotes. The same mutations were not detected in 100 healthy controls. The child was also found to have carried two previously described polymorphisms including a heterozygous c.545C>T(derived from her father) and a homozygous c.538C>T(derived from her mother).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Missense mutations of c.527G>A and c.691G>A in the ALDH5A1 gene are responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease in this family.</p>