The Urea Cycle Disorders Consortium
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Clinical Studies

5104: Assessing Neural Mechanisms of injury in inborn errors of urea metabolism using Structural MRI, Functional MRI, and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Status: Recruiting

Study Summary

Please Note: The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network will make every effort to enroll all the patients we can, but we cannot make any guarantees that we will be able to enroll everyone in a particular study who wants to participate.

Background

Urea cycle disorders represent a group of rare inborn errors of metabolism due to accumulation of ammonia, a toxic product of protein metabolism. Individuals with urea cycle disorders cannot metabolize the ammonia that accumulates due to enzyme deficiency. The symptoms of these disorders may present at birth, childhood or adulthood (milder deficiencies). There are currently eight enzyme deficiencies that constitute the range of inborn errors of ureagenesis. This project will focus on the most common enzyme disorder of the urea cycle, ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD), inherited as an X-linked trait. As a result of this study, a greater understanding of the anatomic, cognitive, motor, and biochemical underpinnings of neurologic damage attributable to this metabolic disorder will be gained.

About this Study

This project will study cognitive and motor dysfunction in patients who are female carriers of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) or are males with late onset presentation of OTCD. This project seeks to improve our understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms that contribute to metabolic, cognitive, sensory and motor abnormalities in urea cycle disorders. Experimental approaches will combine sensory, cognitive and motor testing with structural, functional and molecular magnetic resonance imaging to study symptomatic and asymptomatic heterozygous female carriers of X-linked Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD), and late onset hemizygous males.
Participants will be asked to submit to several tests that include:

  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) a non-invasive technique.
  • sensory, cognitive and motor testing
  • Laboratory testing (blood/urine)

Target Enrollment

To be eligible to participate, you must:

  • Be between the ages of 18-60 years old
  • Have an IQ of 80 or higher
  • Be a native English speaker
  • Be a heterozygous OTCD female or late onset male or
  • Be a healthy male or female without known medical or metabolic disorder (for healthy controls)

You are not eligible to participate if:

  • You are less than 18 or older than 60 years of age
  • You are pregnant or may become pregnant
  • You have any metal in your body
  • You have a significant history of neuropsychiatric drug use

How to Participate:

In order to participate in a study, you must personally contact the study coordinator of any of the participating institutions by phone or by e-mail. Please use the information below to inquire about participation.

  • Georgetown University, Washington, DC
    Rebecca Seltzer, B.A.
    Research Coordinator
    Georgetown University Department of Neurology
    Phone: 202-687-3865
    E-mail: beckyseltzer@gmail.com

    Andrea Gropman, M.D.
    Site/Study Principal Investigator
    Department of Neurology
    Children's National Medical Center
    Phone: 202-746-3511
    E-mail: agropman@cnmc.org

Join the Contact Registry for: Argininosuccinate Lyase Deficiency (Argininosuccinic Aciduria (ASA)