Prevalence of acute intermittent porphyria in a Mexican psychiatric population.
BACKGROUND
Acute intermittent porphyria is a hereditary error of porphyrin metabolism in which the main metabolic defect is caused by a decrease in porphobilinogen deaminase activity. Previous work has demonstrated a higher prevalence of acute intermittent porphyria in the psychiatric patient population than in the general population. The goal of this study was evaluate 300 psychiatric patients and 150 control subjects to detect acute intermittent porphyria by measurement of porphobilinogen (PBG) deaminase activity in blood.


METHODS
Screening for porphobilinogen deaminase activity was carried out by fluorometric measurement of porphyrins synthesized during 1 h in blood and the measurement of delta-aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen in urine.


RESULTS
We found two psychiatric patients, one male and one female, with decreased porphobilinogen deaminase activity. When the families of these patients were studied, one brother was found to have an abnormality. Among controls, a woman was found to have the abnormality and her father was found to have typical features of the disease.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate a prevalence of porphyria in Mexican psychiatric patients similar to controls, and that measurement of PBG deaminase activity is a good tool for defining acute intermittent porphyria carriers.
Jara-Prado
A
A
Departamentos de Genética y Biología Molecular, y Neuroquímica, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, México, D.F., Mexico.
Yescas
P
P
Sánchez
F J
FJ
Ríos
C
C
Garnica
R
R
Alonso
E
E
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000201:enzymology; D017118:Porphyria, Acute Intermittent / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000201:enzymology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted
D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase