Publications by authors named "Preece M"

In the UK, Classical Galactosaemia (CG) is identified incidentally from the Newborn Screening (NBS) for phenylketonuria (PKU) using an "Other disorder suspected" (ODS) pathway when phenylalanine (Phe) and tyrosine (Tyr) concentrations are increased. We aimed to determine the efficacy of CG detection via NBS and estimate the incidence of CG in live births in the UK. A survey was sent to all UK NBS laboratories to collate CG cases diagnosed in the UK from 2010 to 2020.

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Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) farmed in New Zealand are known to develop abnormal spinal curvature late in seawater production. Its cause is presently unknown, but there is evidence to suggest a neuromuscular pathology. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we evaluated the relationship between soft tissue pathology and spinal curvature in farmed Chinook salmon.

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Article Synopsis
  • The rise of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) linked to HPV in men emphasizes the urgent need for effective early screening tests, especially since recurrence and metastasis rates are high.
  • A previous study identified a significant correlation between the methylation of the EPB41L3 tumor suppressor gene and HPV16 in the oral gargle of OPC patients, with higher levels found in those with the cancer compared to healthy controls.
  • Expanding research to include 228 OPC cases reinforced the utility of HPV16/EPB41L3 methylation as a potential biomarker, achieving a sensitivity of 76% for early cases; however, the need for additional biomarkers remains to enhance early detection capabilities.
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Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an important cause of stroke particularly in younger patients and potentially fatal if diagnosis is delayed. The presentation of symptoms is highly variable and consequently the diagnosis and underlying cause is often delayed or overlooked. Homocystinuria, a rare autosomal recessive disorder is an identified risk factor for CVT.

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Background: Wilson's disease (WD) is a rare disorder of copper toxicosis. Hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome is even rarer. The coexistence of these two disorders and their clinical implications are not yet reported.

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Methylation biomarkers are promising tools for diagnosis and disease prevention. The S5 classifier is aimed at the prevention of cervical cancer by the early detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). S5 is based on pyrosequencing a promoter region of EPB41L3 and five late regions of HPV types 16, 18, 31, and 33 following bisulfite conversion of DNA.

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Objectives: To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency on dried blood spots (DBS) obtained at newborn blood spot screening (NBS) and thereby test the efficacy of the UK national antenatal supplementation programme in an increasingly ethnically diverse English population. To evaluate the seasonal and ethnic variation in neonatal plasma 25 hydoxyvitamin D (25OHD) and its determinants.

Design: Three thousand random DBS samples received at a single regional newborn screening laboratory (52° N) over two one-week periods, one in winter (February 2019) and one in summer (August 2019), were collected.

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Skin lesions are commonly reported in farmed salmonids. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), introduced from California USA, is the only salmonid species commercially farmed in New Zealand, although trout are cultured for release by Fish and Game New Zealand. There are several farming areas in New Zealand, including Marlborough Sounds, Canterbury and Stewart Island.

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Spinal anomalies are a recognised source of downgrading in finfish aquaculture, but identifying their cause(s) is difficult and often requires extensive knowledge of the underlying pathology. Late-onset spinal curvatures (lordosis, kyphosis, scoliosis) can affect up to 40% of farmed New Zealand Chinook (king) salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) at harvest, but little is known about their pathogenesis. Curvature development was radiographically documented in two related cohorts of commercially-farmed Chinook salmon throughout seawater production to determine (1) the timing of radiographic onset and relationships between (2) the curvature types, (3) the spinal regions in which they develop and (4) their associations with co-existing vertebral body anomalies (vertebral compression, fusion and vertical shift).

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In a longitudinal retrospective study, we aimed to assess natural protein (NP) tolerance and metabolic control in a cohort of 20 Hereditary Tyrosinaemia type I (HTI) patients. Their median age was 12 years ([3.2-17.

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Transport And Golgi Organization protein 2 (TANGO2) deficiency has recently been identified as a rare metabolic disorder with a distinct clinical and biochemical phenotype of recurrent metabolic crises, hypoglycemia, lactic acidosis, rhabdomyolysis, arrhythmias, and encephalopathy with cognitive decline. We report nine subjects from seven independent families, and we studied muscle histology, respiratory chain enzyme activities in skeletal muscle and proteomic signature of fibroblasts. All nine subjects carried autosomal recessive TANGO2 mutations.

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The first step in branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism is catalyzed by the two BCAA transferase isoenzymes, cytoplasmic branched-chain amino acid transferase (BCAT) 1, and mitochondrial BCAT2. Defects in the second step of BCAA catabolism cause maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), a condition which has been far more extensively investigated. Here, we studied the consequences of BCAT2 deficiency, an ultra-rare condition in humans.

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Vertebral fusions are an established economic concern in farmed Atlantic salmon, but have not been studied in detail in farmed Chinook salmon. Two radiographic studies of vertebral fusions were performed in farmed Chinook salmon. Sixteen of 1,301 (1.

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Farmed New Zealand Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum have been found to be infected by rickettsia-like organisms (NZ-RLO). While these Gram-negative intra-cellular bacteria are closely related to Piscirickettsia salmonis, a significant pathogen for farmed salmon globally, the pathogenicity of NZ-RLO is unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine if one strain, NZ-RLO2, causes disease in Chinook salmon.

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Over the past 40 years New Zealand (NZ) aquaculture has grown into a significant primary industry. Tonnage is small on a global scale, but the industry has built an international reputation for the supply of high quality seafood to many overseas markets. Since the early 1990s the industry has recognized the potential gains from selective breeding and the challenge has been to develop programs that can overcome biological obstacles (such as larval rearing and mortality) and operate cost-effectively on a relatively small scale while still providing significant gains in multiple traits of economic value.

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A total of 777 fish from three growing regions of New Zealand Chinook salmon farms comprising of five sites were tested. Quantitative PCR was used to determine the distribution of New Zealand rickettsia-like organism and Tenacibaculum maritimum. Genetic information from these bacteria were then compared with strains reported worldwide.

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Variation of vertebral centra numbers is common in vertebrates. Likewise, the number of associated elements such as ribs and neural and haemal arches can vary and affect all regions of the vertebral column. In mammals, only the number of cervical vertebrae is invariable.

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A rickettsia-like organism, designated NZ-RLO2, was isolated from Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) farmed in the South Island, New Zealand. In vivo growth showed NZ-RLO2 was able to grow in CHSE-214, EPC, BHK-21, C6/36 and Sf21 cell lines, while Piscirickettsia salmonis LF-89 grew in all but BHK-21 and Sf21. NZ-RLO2 grew optimally in EPC at 15°C, CHSE-214 and EPC at 18°C.

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Spinal abnormalities can be detected at harvest in around 40% of farmed Chinook salmon in New Zealand. However, whether these abnormalities are present in smolt is unknown. Radiographs of 3,736 smolt were taken immediately prior to transfer to sea water and evaluated for fusions, compressions, vertical shifts, and lordosis, kyphosis and/or scoliosis (LKS).

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Background: Children with long-chain fatty acid β-oxidation disorders (LCFAOD) presenting with clinical symptoms are treated with a specialist infant formula, with medium chain triglyceride (MCT) mainly replacing long chain triglyceride (LCT). It is essential that the safety and efficacy of any new specialist formula designed for LCFAOD be tested in infants and children.

Methods: In an open-label, 21-day, phase I trial, we studied the safety of a new MCT-based formula (feed 1) in six well-controlled children (three male), aged 7-13 years (median 9 years) with LCFAOD (very long chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency [VLCADD], n=2; long chain 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency [LCHADD], n=2; carnitine acyl carnitine translocase deficiency [CACTD], n=2).

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Peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidases catalyze the first step of beta-oxidation of a variety of substrates broken down in the peroxisome. These include the CoA-esters of very long-chain fatty acids, branched-chain fatty acids and the C27-bile acid intermediates. In rat, three peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidases with different substrate specificities are known, whereas in humans it is believed that only two peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidases are expressed under normal circumstances.

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Skeletal deformities in farmed fish are a recurrent problem. External malformations are easily recognized, but there is little information on how external malformations relate to malformations of the axial skeleton: the external phenotype-skeleton link. Here, this link is studied in post-hatch to first-feed life stages of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) raised at 4, 8 and 12°C.

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Teleost vertebral centra are often similar in size and shape, but vertebral-associated elements, i.e. neural arches, haemal arches and ribs, show regional differences.

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