enzyme at fault : Methionine adenosyltransferase 1 or 3
easiest way to detect : raised methionine plasma, or DNA test
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| MAT deficiency is step 1 |
MEBO Research is always looking at the various enzymes that may be at fault for no obvious health problems except a body odor and/or halitosis. One such enzyme that may be a problem with some is the Methionine adenosyltransferase 1 or 3 enzyme, that is part of the 'methionine cycle' and is currently thought to result in an odor caused by dimethylsulfide (a boiled cabbage odor), but whether other sulfury odors may also be possible is not yet known.
How to test
The easiest test is probably a methionine plasma test, since an increase in methionine level is predicted likely if the person is smelling at that time. Whether the person feels they would need to do it as a loading test (i.e. load up with a methionine dose) is currently debated. Since most in our community feel they are 'episodic' odor cases, maybe a loading test would be best. Methionine plasma testing is part of a regular 'amino acids' test performed in pediatric clinical testing labs, so is a relatively common test. However, apparently the offensive odor for this deficiency is caused by dimethylsulfide, and this will not be commonly tested. Whether other sulfides or thiols etc could also be implicated is currently unknown. It can be seen that when cysteine is further metabolized that hydrogen sulfide can be produced.
In the methionine cycle, there are a number of other enzymes that could be at fault too. However these seem associated with other severe health disorders, and an odor would probably be the last of your concerns. The MAT1/3 enzyme is the enzyme at step 1 of the methionine cycle.
So, testing for Methionine adenosyltransferase 1 or 3 deficiency seems a sensible enzyme to rule out when testing for systemic body odors.
Links on the subject :
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v59/n6/fig_tab/1602138f1.html
http://www.thesgc.org/structures/details?pdbid=2obv
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1801505/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC185831/?tool=pubmed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1527987
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18500573
Pubmed search
MEBO Research
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4 comments:
I really struggle through life with TMAU I cant take much more of isolation . Please give us some hope.
Hi Anonymous,
I'm sorry you are suffering so much with this isolation. I hope you join our international skype group by installing Skype, select your Skype username, and invite contacts for your list. You can invite me, under my full name, Maria de la Torre, or the mebopetition.chat sponsor, Jo Jo, who also goes by username skunkhugsj. Once you have registered, you can select the group of people you want to speak with either by chat (writing), or voice calls, or even video calls (video calls are for 2 people only).
By spending time communicating with the 21 people who have made themselves available to skype with you, you will be able to discuss how to best work out your odor problems. Don't despair, read the post I did a few days ago about where we are going as an international community. There is hope.
María
It seems impossible to 'work out' this odor problem but dont stop loving life. I have just drafted a letter which is going to a big Govt. Dept. about discriminatory treatment I received in one of their major professional offices due to this condition I suffer. Unlike obnoxious people in the street Govt. departments employing obnoxious professionals, who deal with millions of people including children, can just re-educate their people to cover all disabilities.
Thanks for trying to make a difference. If there is anything MEBO can do to support your efforts, please email me at maria.delatorre@meboresearch.org.