Clinical Description
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) is a mitochondrial membrane protein that converts long-chain fatty acyl-CoA molecules to their corresponding acylcarnitine molecules. The resulting acylcarnitines are then available for transport into the mitochondrial matrix where they can undergo fatty acid oxidation. Mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation by the liver provides an alternative source of fuel when glycogen reserves are significantly reduced, most often due to fasting or other intercurrent illness. The pathway fuels ketogenesis for metabolism in peripheral tissues that cannot oxidize fatty acids.
Clinical symptoms usually occur in an individual with a concurrent febrile or gastrointestinal illness when energy demands are increased. The precipitating illness may be a relatively common infectious disease, but the onset of symptoms is usually rapid and should alert the clinician to the possibility of a fatty acid oxidation defect.
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) deficiency is a disorder of long-chain fatty acid oxidation.
Fetal CPT1A deficiency has been associated with acute fatty liver of pregnancy [Innes et al 2000]. A heterozygous female carrying an affected fetus is at risk of developing this obstetric complication. A number of other fetal fatty acid oxidation defects also carry a similar risk to the heterozygous mother of developing acute fatty liver of pregnancy, typically in the third trimester, prompting further investigation of the newborn for a fatty acid oxidation defect in this situation.
Hepatic encephalopathy. Although some neonates present with "physiologic" hypoglycemia of the newborn, most individuals with CPT1A deficiency present with fasting-induced hepatic encephalopathy in early childhood. This is a potentially fatal presentation; children who recover are at risk for recurrent episodes of life-threatening illness.
Survival through infancy without symptoms has been reported; initial presentation may occur later in life with similar life-threatening acute hepatic illness. For example, death as a result of rapid-onset hepatic failure in CPT1A deficiency occurred in an individual age 17 years despite the early recognition of a fatty acid oxidation defect [Brown et al 2001].
Between episodes of metabolic decompensation, individuals appear developmentally and cognitively normal unless previous metabolic decompensation has resulted in neurologic damage.
Recognition of CPT1A deficiency and initiating management to prevent lipolysis reduces the episodes of decompensation [Stoler et al 2004, Stanley et al 2014].
Long-term liver damage as a result of recurring hepatosteatosis has not been reported.
Some individuals with the hepatic encephalopathy phenotype have also had renal tubular acidosis.
Unlike with other long-chain fatty acid oxidation defects, cardiac or skeletal muscle involvement is not common [Bonnefont et al 2004, Stanley et al 2014].
Genotype-Phenotype Correlations
The p.Pro479Leu pathogenic variant observed in the Inuit, which has high residual enzymatic activity (15%-20%), does not appear to cause acute hepatic failure as do the other pathogenic variants associated with the more severe phenotype [Brown et al 2001]. However, evidence suggests that infants who are homozygous for the variant have impaired fasting tolerance [Gillingham et al 2011] and increased risk of infant mortality [Gessner et al 2010]. In a study using whole-genome high-coverage sequence data of Arctic populations, this CPT1A variant was identified as deleterious and associated with increased infant mortality in circum-Arctic populations [Clemente et al 2014].
Prevalence
CPT1A deficiency caused by variants other than p.Pro479Leu appears to be very rare in the general population, with fewer than 60 affected individuals reported.
Improved detection of CPT1A deficiency in the newborn period may increase the detection rate for the disorder [Sim et al 2001]. The number of non-Inuit diagnoses in the Region 4 Stork (R4S) newborn screening collaborative for 2015 was five cases, giving an estimated prevalence of 1:500,000 to 1:1,000,000 newborns [Piero Rinaldo, personal communication].
The frequency of homozygosity for the p.Pro479Leu pathogenic variant is very high in the native Alaskan population (1.3:1,000 live births) when ascertained by expanded newborn screening (available through Alaska Division of Public Health). Given the high residual enzyme activity associated with this allele, p.Pro479Leu homozygosity is generally regarded as non-pathogenic but may still be associated with increased infant mortality [Clemente et al 2014] (see Genotype-Phenotype Correlations).
The carrier rate for the p.Gly710Glu pathogenic variant in the Hutterite population may be as high as 1:16 [Prasad et al 2001].