Carnitine-Acylcarnitine Translocase Deficiency
Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase (CACT) deficiency is a disease that prevents the body from converting certain fats called long-chain fatty acids into energy, particularly during periods without food (fasting). Carnitine, a natural substance acquired mostly through the diet, is used by cells to process fats and produce energy. People with this disorder have a faulty transporter (CACT) that disrupts carnitine's role in processing long-chain fatty acids.
There are two forms of carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency. The most common type is severe and happens in newborns. A milder, less common type happens in older infants and children. Most patients with CACT deficiency have a severe disease presenting within the first 48 hours of life as low blood sugar with ketonic bodies (hypoketotic hypoglycemia), high ammonia (hyperammonemia) levels in the blood, increased heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), and abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmias), as well as skeletal muscle damage, liver problems, and low temperature (hypothermia). Neurological involvement, seizures, and developmental delay are also present. Rarely, patients present as a sudden infant death. The CACT deficiency is caused by mutations in the SLC25A20 gene. Treatment is done by avoiding fasting and having a low long-chain fat diet with medium chain triglyceride (MCT) supplementation.
Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency is a type of fatty acid oxidation disorder.
There are two forms of carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency. The most common type is severe and happens in newborns. A milder, less common type happens in older infants and children. Most patients with CACT deficiency have a severe disease presenting within the first 48 hours of life as low blood sugar with ketonic bodies (hypoketotic hypoglycemia), high ammonia (hyperammonemia) levels in the blood, increased heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), and abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmias), as well as skeletal muscle damage, liver problems, and low temperature (hypothermia). Neurological involvement, seizures, and developmental delay are also present. Rarely, patients present as a sudden infant death. The CACT deficiency is caused by mutations in the SLC25A20 gene. Treatment is done by avoiding fasting and having a low long-chain fat diet with medium chain triglyceride (MCT) supplementation.
Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency is a type of fatty acid oxidation disorder.