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Mitochondrial disease is a group of disorders caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are the organelles that generate energy for the cell and are found in every cell of the human body except red blood cells. They convert the energy of food molecules into the ATP that powers most cell functions.
Mitochondrial myopathy literally means mitochondrial muscle disease, muscle disease caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. The mitochondrion is the primary producer of energy in nearly all cells throughout the body. The exception is mature erythrocytes (red blood cells), so that they do not use up the oxygen that they carry.
Pearson syndrome is a mitochondrial disease characterized by sideroblastic anemia and exocrine pancreas dysfunction. Other clinical features are failure to thrive, pancreatic fibrosis with insulin-dependent diabetes and exocrine pancreatic deficiency, muscle and neurologic impairment, and, frequently, early death. It is usually fatal in infancy.
Mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDS or MDDS), or Alper's disease, is any of a group of autosomal recessive disorders that cause a significant drop in mitochondrial DNA in affected tissues. Symptoms can be any combination of myopathic , hepatopathic , or encephalomyopathic . [ 1 ]
CPEO is the most common manifestation of mitochondrial myopathy, occurring in an estimated two-thirds of all cases of mitochondrial myopathy. Patients typically present with ptosis (drooping eyelids). Other diseases like Graves' disease, myasthenia gravis and glioma that may cause an external ophthalmoplegia must be ruled out. [citation needed]
Fatty-acid metabolism disorders result when both parents of the diagnosed subject are carriers of a defective gene. This is known as an autosomal recessive disorder. Two parts of a recessive gene are required to activate the disease. If only one part of the gene is present then the individual is only a carrier and shows no symptoms of the disease.
Mutations in the TAZ gene cause 3-methylglutaconic aciduria type II (Barth syndrome). This gene provides instructions for making a protein called tafazzin . This protein plays a critical role in maintaining the levels of a particular lipid, called cardiolipin, located in the inner membrane of the mitochondria.
Mitochondrial complex II deficiency, also called CII deficiency, is a rare mitochondrial disease caused by deficiency of mitochondrial complex II, also known as Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). SDH plays a key role in metabolism; the catalytic end, made up of SDHA and SDHB oxidizes succinate to fumarate in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle.