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URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/fumarase-deficiency/

Fumarase deficiency

Description

Fumarase deficiency is a condition that primarily affects the nervous system, especially the brain. Affected infants may have an abnormally small head size (microcephaly), abnormal brain structure, severe developmental delay, weak muscle tone (hypotonia), and failure to gain weight and grow at the expected rate (failure to thrive). They may also experience seizures. Some people with this disorder have unusual facial features, including a prominent forehead (frontal bossing), low-set ears, a small jaw (micrognathia), widely spaced eyes (ocular hypertelorism), and a depressed nasal bridge. An enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly) may also be associated with this disorder, as well as an excess of red blood cells (polycythemia) or deficiency of white blood cells (leukopenia) in infancy. Affected individuals usually survive only a few months, but a few have lived into early adulthood.

Frequency

Fumarase deficiency is a very rare disorder. Approximately 100 affected individuals have been reported worldwide. Several were born in an isolated religious community in the southwestern United States.

Causes

Fumarase deficiency is caused by mutations in the FH gene. This gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called fumarase (also known as fumarate hydratase). Fumarase participates in an important series of reactions known as the citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, which allows cells to use oxygen and generate energy. Specifically, fumarase helps convert a molecule called fumarate to a molecule called malate.

Mutations in the FH gene disrupt the enzyme's ability to help convert fumarate to malate, interfering with the function of this reaction in the citric acid cycle. Impairment of the process that generates energy for cells is particularly harmful to cells in the developing brain, and this impairment results in the signs and symptoms of fumarase deficiency.

Learn more about the gene associated with Fumarase deficiency

Inheritance

This condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they typically do not show signs and symptoms of the condition. However, people with one mutated copy of the FH gene in each cell, including parents of individuals with fumarase deficiency, tend to develop benign tumors containing smooth muscle tissue (leiomyomas) in the skin and, in females, the uterus. They also have an increased risk of kidney cancer. This condition is called hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC).

Other Names for This Condition

  • Fumarate hydratase deficiency
  • Fumaric aciduria

Additional Information & Resources

Genetic Testing Information

Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center

Patient Support and Advocacy Resources

Clinical Trials

Catalog of Genes and Diseases from OMIM

Scientific Articles on PubMed

References

  • Alam NA, Rowan AJ, Wortham NC, Pollard PJ, Mitchell M, Tyrer JP, Barclay E, Calonje E, Manek S, Adams SJ, Bowers PW, Burrows NP, Charles-Holmes R, Cook LJ, Daly BM, Ford GP, Fuller LC, Hadfield-Jones SE, Hardwick N, Highet AS, Keefe M, MacDonald-Hull SP, Potts ED, Crone M, Wilkinson S, Camacho-Martinez F, Jablonska S, Ratnavel R, MacDonald A, Mann RJ, Grice K, Guillet G, Lewis-Jones MS, McGrath H, Seukeran DC, Morrison PJ, Fleming S, Rahman S, Kelsell D, Leigh I, Olpin S, Tomlinson IP. Genetic and functional analyses of FH mutations in multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomatosis, hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cancer, and fumarate hydratase deficiency. Hum Mol Genet. 2003 Jun 1;12(11):1241-52. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddg148. Citation on PubMed
  • Allegri G, Fernandes MJ, Scalco FB, Correia P, Simoni RE, Llerena JC Jr, de Oliveira ML. Fumaric aciduria: an overview and the first Brazilian case report. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2010 Aug;33(4):411-9. doi: 10.1007/s10545-010-9134-2. Epub 2010 Jun 15. Citation on PubMed
  • Bayley JP, Launonen V, Tomlinson IP. The FH mutation database: an online database of fumarate hydratase mutations involved in the MCUL (HLRCC) tumor syndrome and congenital fumarase deficiency. BMC Med Genet. 2008 Mar 25;9:20. doi: 10.1186/1471-2350-9-20. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
  • Deschauer M, Gizatullina Z, Schulze A, Pritsch M, Knoppel C, Knape M, Zierz S, Gellerich FN. Molecular and biochemical investigations in fumarase deficiency. Mol Genet Metab. 2006 Jun;88(2):146-52. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2006.01.007. Epub 2006 Feb 28. Citation on PubMed
  • Ezgu F, Krejci P, Wilcox WR. Mild clinical presentation and prolonged survival of a patient with fumarase deficiency due to the combination of a known and a novel mutation in FH gene. Gene. 2013 Jul 25;524(2):403-6. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.03.026. Epub 2013 Apr 20. Citation on PubMed
  • Kerrigan JF, Aleck KA, Tarby TJ, Bird CR, Heidenreich RA. Fumaric aciduria: clinical and imaging features. Ann Neurol. 2000 May;47(5):583-8. Citation on PubMed
  • Ottolenghi C, Hubert L, Allanore Y, Brassier A, Altuzarra C, Mellot-Draznieks C, Bekri S, Goldenberg A, Veyrieres S, Boddaert N, Barbier V, Valayannopoulos V, Slama A, Chretien D, Ricquier D, Marret S, Frebourg T, Rabier D, Munnich A, de Keyzer Y, Toulhoat H, de Lonlay P. Clinical and biochemical heterogeneity associated with fumarase deficiency. Hum Mutat. 2011 Sep;32(9):1046-52. doi: 10.1002/humu.21534. Epub 2011 Jul 12. Citation on PubMed
  • Picaud S, Kavanagh KL, Yue WW, Lee WH, Muller-Knapp S, Gileadi O, Sacchettini J, Oppermann U. Structural basis of fumarate hydratase deficiency. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2011 Jun;34(3):671-6. doi: 10.1007/s10545-011-9294-8. Epub 2011 Mar 29. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
  • Raimundo N, Ahtinen J, Fumic K, Baric I, Remes AM, Renkonen R, Lapatto R, Suomalainen A. Differential metabolic consequences of fumarate hydratase and respiratory chain defects. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 May;1782(5):287-94. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2008.01.008. Epub 2008 Feb 14. Citation on PubMed

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