Multiple respiratory chain abnormalities associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 3-methylglutaconic aciduria

In a 4.5-month-old boy presenting with marked muscular hypotonia in the neonatal period, hepatomegaly, cardiac hypertrophy, recurrent hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis, and secondary carnitine deficiency, there was a considerable urinary excretion of 3-methylglutaconic and 3-methylglutaric acid. Estimation of 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA lyase and initial enzymatic steps of cholesterol biosynthesis in cultured fibroblasts and in different tissues postmortem revealed no enzyme deficiency. Analyses of the respiratory chain in postmortem tissues demonstrated severe impairment of complex I (NADH ubiquinone oxidoreductase) and complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase) activities in skeletal muscle and reduced complex IV activity in heart.