Digestive, Ear/Nose/Throat, and Eye Disorders

The digestive system includes the structures and organs involved in processing of foods required for growth, development, maintenance, and body repair. Most diseases affecting this system are due to infections from bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi, while others are hereditary. The ear, nose, and throat (ENT) system is a complex set of structures sharing slightly interrelated mechanisms of operation. While some disorders of the ENT are hereditary, environmental influences play a big role. Diseases that affect eyesight primarily centre on three layers of the eye (sclera, choroid, and retina) which make eyesight possible. Disorders of metabolism occur when a crucial enzyme is disabled, or if a control mechanism for a metabolic pathway is affected. The chapter focuses on 14 diseases with suspected genetic causes including cystic fibrosis, diabetes, glucose-galactose malabsorption, hemochromatosis, obesity, Wilson's Disease, Zellweger syndrome, deafness, Pendred syndrome, Best Disease, glaucoma, gyrate atrophy, male pattern baldness, and Alport syndrome.

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Augusto de Lima Marson ◽  
Carmen Sílvia Bertuzzo ◽  
Rodrigo Secolin ◽  
Antônio Fernando Ribeiro ◽  
José Dirceu Ribeiro

2018 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 001-008 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gettelfinger ◽  
John Dahl

AbstractCongenital hearing loss is one of the most common birth defects worldwide, with around 1 in 500 people experiencing some form of severe hearing loss. While over 400 different syndromes involving hearing loss have been described, it is important to be familiar with a wide range of syndromes involving hearing loss so an early diagnosis can be made and early intervention can be pursued to maximize functional hearing and speech-language development in the setting of verbal communication. This review aims to describe the presentation and genetics for some of the most frequently occurring syndromes involving hearing loss, including neurofibromatosis type 2, branchio-oto-renal syndrome, Treacher Collins syndrome, Stickler syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, Pendred syndrome, Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, Usher syndromes, Refsum disease, Alport syndrome, MELAS, and MERRF.


JAMA ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 195 (12) ◽  
pp. 993-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Grand
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
L. Terracio ◽  
A. Dewey ◽  
K. Rubin ◽  
T.K. Borg

The recognition and interaction of cells with the extracellular matrix (ECM) effects the normal physiology as well as the pathology of all multicellular organisms. These interactions have been shown to influence the growth, development, and maintenance of normal tissue function. In previous studies, we have shown that neonatal cardiac myocytes specifically interacts with a variety of ECM components including fibronectin, laminin, and collagens I, III and IV. Culturing neonatal myocytes on laminin and collagen IV induces an increased rate of both cell spreading and sarcomerogenesis.


Author(s):  
J. V. Briggman ◽  
J. Bigelow ◽  
H. Bank ◽  
S. S. Spicer

The prevalence of strands shown by freeze-fracture in the zonula occludens of junctional complexes is thought to correspond closely with the transepi-thelial electrical resistance and with the tightness of the junction and its obstruction to paracellular flow.1 The complexity of the network of junc¬tional complex strands does not appear invariably related to the degree of tightness of the junction, however, as rabbit ileal junctions have a complex network of strands and are permeable to lanthanum. In human eccrine sweat glands the extent of paracellular relative to transcellular flow remains unknown, both for secretion of the isotonic precursor fluid by the coil and for resorption of a hypertonic solution by the duct. The studies reported here undertook, therefore, to determine with the freeze-fracture technique the complexity of the network of ridges in the junctional complexes between cells in the secretory coil and the sweat ducts. Glands from a patient with cystic fibrosis were also examined because an alteration in junctional strands could underlie the decreased Na+ resorption by sweat ducts in this disease. Freeze-fracture replicas were prepared by standard procedures on isolated coil and duct segments of human sweat glands. Junctional complexes between clear cells, between dark cells and between clear and dark cells on the main lumen, and between clear cells on intercellular canaliculi of the coil con¬tained abundant anastomosing closely spaced strands averaging 6.4 + 0.7 (mean + SE) and 9.0 +0.5 (Fig. 1) per complex, respectively. Thus, the junctions in the intercellular canaliculi of the coil appeared comparable in complexity to those of tight epithlia. Occasional junctions exhibited, in addition, 2 to 5 widely spaced anastomosing strands in a very close network basal to the compact network. The fewer junctional complexes observed thus far between the superficial duct cells consisted on the average of 6 strands arranged in a close network and 1 to 4 underlying strands that lay widely separated from one another (Fig. 2). The duct epitelium would, thus, be judged slightly more "leaky" than the coil. Infrequent junctional complexes observed to date in the secretory coil segment of a cystic fibrosis specimen disclosed rela¬tively few closely crowded strands.


1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Cimon ◽  
J. Carrere ◽  
J. P. Chazalette ◽  
J. F. Vinatier ◽  
D. Chabasse ◽  
...  

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