Diagnostic strategy for mucolipidosis II/III

Overlapping clinical phenotypes are a diagnostic challenge to the clinician, especially in the cases of mucolipidosis (ML) and mucopolysaccharide disorders (MPS), due to overlapping phenotypes. Present study was carried out in 147 children suspected to have ML or MPS and 100 controls. They were screened for ML II/III by colorimetric method using substrate pNCS. Six children were found screen positive for ML II/III and further confirmatory study showed significantly raised activity in plasma confirming high specificity of the ML screening test. Forty-two (28.5%) children out of remaining 141 children that were screen negative, were found to have various MPS disorders, while rest 99 had normal enzyme activity in plasma and leucocytes. Present study demonstrates prompt and specific chemical method that can be used as a tool for estimating ML II/III, with high specificity.