LESCH-NYHAN SYNDROME


Meaning of LESCH-NYHAN SYNDROME in English

hereditary metabolic disorder affecting the central nervous system and characterized by incoordination, mental retardation, aggressive behaviour, and compulsive biting. The cause of the syndrome is a defective organic catalyst or enzyme, hypoxanthine-guanine-phosphoribo-syltransferase, which normally is particularly active in brain cells and is involved in the metabolism of purines. The Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is transmitted by a recessive sex-linked gene, affecting chiefly males, and it is possible to detect it before birth in the offspring of women known to be carriers of the trait.

Britannica English vocabulary.      Английский словарь Британика.