prevalence of vitamin d deficiency in ancient egyptian population from baharia oasis, the greco roman period

Vitamin D deficiency is considered to be the most common nutritional deficiency andalso one of the most common undiagnosed medical conditions in the world. Vitamin D is naturallypresent only in minor amounts in most foods; the great majority is synthesized by the action ofultraviolet light on chemical precursors in the skin.The manifestation of vitamin D deficiency in sub adults is referred to as rickets, and in adults,osteomalacia . Rickets and osteomalacia are the sub adult and adult expressions of a disease in whichthe underlying problem is a failure to mineralize bone protein [osteoid]. The most common cause ofthis disease is a physiological deficiency in vitamin D. The associated problems include deformedbones. This study aimed to investigate the skeletal remains of ancient Egyptiansfrom Baharia Oasis population for lesions indicative of vitamin D deficiency [rickets andosteomalacia]. The material consisted of 1075 commingled bones [38 sub adults and 1037 adults]. They were recovered from Baharia oasis. The results showed that, there was no evidence of rickets in sub adult group. The prevalenceof osteomalacia in adult Baharia populations was 7.4% ; all were adult males.This result could indicate that this population was subjected to sunlight all over the year and their dietwas rich of calcium and phosphorus. These few cases that were found may be due to mechanical stress during wine andtextile production

Match of functional module with chassis in 7-dehydrocholesterol synthesis / 生物工程学报

The key challenge to generate engineered cells by synthetic biology for producing 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) in a high titer is the match between functional module and chassis. Our study focused on solving this problem by combining different promoters and yeast chassis to increase 7-DHC production. To optimize the chassis in order to accumulate zymosterol, the substrate for 7-DHC synthesis, we overexpressed truncated HMG-CoA reductase (tHmglp) and squalene epoxidase (Erglp), both are key genes of yeast endogenous zymosterol biosynthetic pathway. In addition, we knocked out C-24 methyl transferase (Erg6p) and C-22 dehydrogenase (Erg5p) to inhibit the conversion of zymosterol to ergosterol. By introducing heterologous C-24 reductase under three promoters with different strengths, namely TDH3p, PGK1p and TDH1p, we constructed functional modules of diverse activities. Nine engineeredcells were generated based on the combination of these three modules and three chassis. The result shows that the engineered cell composed of functional module regulated by TDH3p and chassis SyBE_000956 had the highest 7-DHC production, indicating a better match than others. This study provides evidences for importance of match and empirical support for rational design of subsequent researches.

Vitamin D dependent rickets type I / 소아과

Vitamin D is present in two forms, ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) produced by plants and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) produced by animal tissues or by the action of ultraviolet light on 7-dehydrocholesterol in human skin. Both forms of vitamin D are biologically inactive pro-hormones that must undergo sequential hydroxylations in the liver and the kidney before they can bind to and activate the vitamin D receptor. The hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D], plays an essential role in calcium and phosphate metabolism, bone growth, and cellular differentiation. Renal synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D from its endogenous precursor, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), is the rate-limiting and is catalyzed by the 1alpha-hydroxylase. Vitamin D dependent rickets type I (VDDR-I), also referred to as vitamin D 1alpha-hydroxylase deficiency or pseudovitamin D deficiency rickets, is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized clinically by hypotonia, muscle weakness, growth failure, hypocalcemic seizures in early infancy, and radiographic findings of rickets. Characteristic laboratory features are hypocalcemia, increased serum concentrations of parathyroid hormone (PTH), and low or undetectable serum concentrations of 1,25(OH)2D despite normal or increased concentrations of 25OHD. Recent advances have showed in the cloning of the human 1alpha-hydroxylase and revealed mutations in its gene that cause VDDR-I. This review presents the biology of vitamin D, and 1alpha-hydroxylase mutations with clinical findings.

A case of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome diagnosed by identification of mutations in the 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR7) gene / 소아과

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is a rare, autosomal recessive disease caused by an inborn error in cholesterol synthesis. Patients with this disease suffer from multiple malformations due to reduced activity of 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase (DHCR7), which increases 7-dehydrocholesterol (7DHC) and 8-dehydrocholesterol (8DHC) concentrations and decreases cholesterol concentration in body fluids and tissue. The SLOS phenotypic spectrum ranges from a mild disorder with behavioral and learning problems to a lethal disease characterized by multiple malformations. Here, we describe a newborn male with ambiguous genitalia who was diagnosed to have type II SLOS during the neonatal period. A clinical examination revealed low levels of unconjugated estriol in the maternal serum, and a variety of fetal ultrasound anomalies, including prenatal growth retardation. After birth, the infant was diagnosed to have congenital heart disease (Tetralogy of Fallot with severe pulmonary artery stenosis), cleft lip and palate, micrognathia, postaxial polydactyly, ambiguous genitalia, and cataracts. Clinical investigation revealed extremely low plasma cholesterol levels and the presence of mutation (homozygote of p.Arg352Gln) in the DHCR7 gene. The patient underwent palliative heart surgery (to widen the pulmonary artery) and received intravenous lipid supplementation. Cholesterol levels increased slightly, but not to normal values. The patient died from cardiopulmonary failure and sepsis 72 days after birth. This report provides the first description of a Korean patient with SLOS confirmed by verification of DHCR7 gene mutation and illustrates the need for early recognition and appropriate diagnosis of this disease.

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: clinical and biochemical findings in Brazilian patients

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) or RSH syndrome comprises multiple congenital anomalies and mental retardation. The underlying defect is a deficiency in the activity of delta7-sterol reductase, which decreases cholesterol and increases 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) levels. Our aim was to identify and evaluate the frequency of SLOS manifestations in a group of Brazilian patients. Based on our own data and those reported previously, we present a simple method that allows the estimation of probabilities favoring the diagnosis of SLOS. We evaluated 30 patients clinically and determined their plasma levels of cholesterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol. In 11 patients, the diagnosis was confirmed by ultraviolet spectrophotometry (UV). Of 19 patients with normal laboratory results, 17 showed a high probability favoring the diagnosis of SLOS. The most significant signs and symptoms observed in over 2/3 of the biochemically confirmed cases were mental retardation (10/11), delayed neuropsychomotor development (10/11), syndactyly of 2nd/3rd toes (10/11), and craniofacial anomalies including microcephaly (11/11), incompletely rotated ears (8/11), palpebral ptosis (10/11), anteverted nostrils (10/11), and micrognathia (9/11). Genital anomalies were found in all male patients (6/6).

Diagnosis of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome by ultraviolet spectrophotometry

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is an autosomal recessive disorder due to an inborn error of cholesterol metabolism, characterized by congenital malformations, dysmorphism of multiple organs, mental retardation and delayed neuropsychomotor development resulting from cholesterol biosynthesis deficiency. A defect in 3ß-hydroxysteroid-delta7-reductase (delta7-sterol-reductase), responsible for the conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) to cholesterol, causes an increase in 7-DHC and frequently reduces plasma cholesterol levels. The clinical diagnosis of SLOS cannot always be conclusive because of the remarkable variability of clinical expression of the disorder. Thus, confirmation by the measurement of plasma 7-DHC levels is needed. In the present study, we used a simple, fast, and selective method based on ultraviolet spectrophotometry to measure 7-DHC in order to diagnose SLOS. 7-DHC was extracted serially from 200 æl plasma with ethanol and n-hexane and the absorbance at 234 and 282 nm was determined. The method was applied to negative control plasma samples from 23 normal individuals and from 6 cases of suspected SLOS. The method was adequate and reliable and 2 SLOS cases were diagnosed

Cholesterol induce oligomerization of Vibrio vulnificus cytolysin specifically

Vibrio vulnificus cytolysin (VVC) has been implicated as one of the important virulence determinants of V. vulnificus that causes serious septicemia and wound infection. An attempt was made to investigate that VVC could act as a ligand which stimulates intracellular signaling systems. Cholesterol dose-dependently blocked VVC hemolytic activity through oli-gomerization of cytolysin. Among cholesterol derivatives including 7-dehydrocholesterol, cholesteryl esters, deoxycholate, and cholestane tested, only 7-dehydrocholesterol induced oligomerization as well as inactivation of VVC. These results show that oligomerization of VVC is completely dependent on three-dimensional structure of cholesterol where specific interaction of cholesterol at oligomerization sites of VVC is very selective. These findings support the idea that cholesterol which constitute many of cellular plasma membrane could be a receptor of VVC on plasma membrane of target cells.

Clinical and biochemical variability of the classical smith-lemli-opitz syndrome in Egyptians

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome [SLO] is the first true metabolic malformation syndrome. The underlying defect is absent or deficient activity of 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase, which is the enzyme catalyzing the last step of cholesterol synthesis. We report on the first Egyptian cases [seven males] with SLO. We studied the clinical and biochemical variability of the syndrome and its relation to patients' age. Mental retardation, 2/3 toe syndactyly and genital anomalies were present in all patients. The distinct facial appearance became less obvious with age. All patients had marked elevation of plasma 7-dehydrocholesterol, which were measured by use of ultraviolet spectrometry. Plasma cholesterol measured by calorimetric method, were within the low normal range in most patients. Dietary cholesterol supplementation in two patients resulted in improvement of behaviour, better tolerance of infection, diminution of photosensitivity, pubertal progression and improvement in plasma sterol levels. The clinical phenotype of SLO is widely variable and plasma cholesterol levels are not reliable for detection of the syndrome. Therefore, diagnosis of SLO by demonstrating increased plasma concentrations of 7-dehydrocholesterol using ultraviolet spectrometry is a rapid and reliable method. Increased awareness of SLO is required for early diagnosis and dietary treatment of affected individuals