Report of a mucopolysaccharidosis occurring in Australian aborigines

The first 2 reported cases of a mucopolysaccharidosis occurring in an Australian aboriginal family are presented. Though these children had the characteristic morphological features of the Hurler syndrome, enzyme assay of cultured fibroblasts showed normal levels of alpha-L-iduronidase and decreased activity of arylsulphatase B. Thus, they represented the Hurler syndrome clinically, while they had the enzyme defect of the Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, and they may represent a new severe form of the Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome. The parents of these children were first cousins. Though the children were not full blood aborigines, examination of the pedigree indicates that the gene originated in the common aboriginal family.