Tricho-hepatic-enteric syndrome (THES) without intractable diarrhoea.

Tricho-hepatic-enteric syndrome (THES) is a genetically heterogeneous rare syndrome (OMIM: 222470 (THES1) and 614602 (THES2)) that typically presents in the neonatal period with intractable diarrhoea, intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR), facial dysmorphism, and hair and skin changes. THES is associated with pathogenic variants in either TTC37 or SKIV2L; both are components of the human SKI complex, an RNA exosome cofactor. We report an 8 year old girl who was diagnosed with THES by the Undiagnosed Disease Program-WA with compound heterozygous pathogenic variants in SKIV2L. While THES was considered in the differential diagnosis, the absence of protracted diarrhoea delayed definitive diagnosis. We therefore suggest that SKIV2L testing should be considered in cases otherwise suggestive of THES, but without the characteristic diarrhoea. We expand the phenotypic spectrum while reviewing the current knowledge on SKIV2L.

Effect of transglutaminase on the heat stability of milk: a possible mechanism.

Treatment of milk with transglutaminase (TGase) affects its heat stability, but the manner in which it does so depends on whether or not the milk had been preheated before incubation and on the temperature of preheating. In raw milk, it appears that cross-link formation between the individual caseins is responsible for preventing the dissociation of kappa-casein from the micelles at pH values in the region of minimum stability. In milks preheated before incubation with TGase, denaturation of whey protein may have allowed the formation of cross-links by TGase between denatured whey proteins and the individual caseins which, in combination with cross-linking of the caseins, contributed to greatly improved heat stability at pH > 6.5. It appears from the results of this study that TGase has potential commercial applications as a food-grade additive capable of improving the heat stability of milk.