Congenital diarrhea and enteropathies (CoDEs) condition is a rare cause of chronic diarrhea in infants that can be challenging to diagnose. This article discusses key signs to recognize in considering a CoDEs diagnosis and provides an overview of the diagnostic process. We report a late preterm twin infant with intractable watery diarrhea starting shortly after birth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor neurons of the anterior horn of the spinal cord, which results in muscle atrophy and weakness. In Colombia, few studies have been published on the pathology and none with functional analysis. Objective: To characterize clinically and functionally some cases of spinal muscular atrophy patients from Central-Western Colombia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDysregulation of L-type Ca(2+) currents in sinoatrial nodal (SAN) cells causes cardiac arrhythmia. Both Ca(v)1.2 and Ca(v)1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Human gene variants affecting ion channel biophysical activity and/or membrane localization are linked to potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias. However, the mechanism for many human arrhythmia variants remains undefined despite more than a decade of investigation. Posttranslational modulation of membrane proteins is essential for normal cardiac function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIon channel function is fundamental to the existence of life. In metazoans, the coordinate activities of voltage-gated Na(+) channels underlie cellular excitability and control neuronal communication, cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, and skeletal muscle function. However, despite decades of research and linkage of Na(+) channel dysfunction with arrhythmia, epilepsy, and myotonia, little progress has been made toward understanding the fundamental processes that regulate this family of proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF