Use of tetrahydropterins in the treatment of hyperphenylalaninemia due to defective synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin: evidence that peripherally administered tetrahydropterins enter the brain.

Abstract

Substantial amounts of tetrahydrobiopterin and 6-methyltetrahydropterin can be detected in CSF when these pterins are given peripherally to patients with hyperphenylalaninemia due to defective biopterin synthesis. Results of this study suggest that administration of either of these pterins in proper doses may prove to be a treatment not only for the impaired peripheral phenylalanine metabolism, but also for the neurologic disorders that are characteristic of the variant forms of hyperphenylalaninemia due to defective tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis or metabolism.

• Authors: S Kaufman, G Kapatos, R R McInnes, J D Schulman, W B Rizzo
• Journal: Pediatrics (Pediatrics) Vol. 70 Issue 3 Pg. 376-80 (Sep 1982) ISSN: 0031-4005 [Print] United States
• PMID: 7110811 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Pteridines
• Pterins
• tetrahydropterin
• Biopterin
• Phenylalanine
• Neopterin
• 6-methyltetrahydropterin
• sapropterin

Topics

• Biopterin (analogs & derivatives, biosynthesis, cerebrospinal fluid, therapeutic use)
• Brain (metabolism)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Neopterin
• Phenylalanine (blood)
• Phenylketonurias (cerebrospinal fluid, drug therapy)
• Pteridines (therapeutic use)
• Pterins (cerebrospinal fluid, metabolism, therapeutic use)