Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is an autosomal recessive multiple congenital anomaly/mental retardation syndrome. Typical clinical features include a distinctive facial appearance, mental retardation, autistic behavior, hypotonia, failure to feed, poor growth, decreased life span, and variable structural anomalies of the heart, lungs, brain, gastrointestinal tract, limbs, genitalia and kidneys. The SLOS phenotypic spectrum is broad and variable. At the severe end of the spectrum SLOS is a lethal disorder with multiple major congenital anomalies; whereas, mild cases of SLOS present with a combination of minor physical stigmata, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities. SLOS is due to an inborn error of cholesterol biosynthesis. Biochemically, SLOS patients have a deficiency of 3beta-hydroxysterol delta(7)-reductase activity. 3beta-hydroxysterol delta(7)-reductase is an NADPH dependent microsomal enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of the C7(8) double bond of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) to yield cholesterol in the last step of cholesterol biosynthesis via the Kandutsch-Russel pathway. This inborn error of cholesterol biosynthesis results in elevated tissue and serum 7-DHC levels and typically decreased serum and tissue cholesterol levels. In 1998 we established that the deficiency in 3beta-hydroxysterol delta(7)-reductase activity is due to mutation of the 3beta-hydroxysterol delta(7)-reductase gene (DHCR7). Once the biochemical defect in SLOS was identified, dietary cholesterol supplementation was proposed and employed as a therapeutic approach. Although developmental malformations remain fixed, dietary cholesterol supplementation appears to improve the overall health of these patients, and initial results have shown that dietary cholesterol supplementation has had a positive impact on some of the behavioral manifestations of this disorder. Although our understanding of this disorder has advanced over the last few years, many questions remain concerning the effectiveness of cholesterol replacement therapy, the long term prognosis for individuals on dietary cholesterol supplementation, and the need for adjunctive measures in the clinical management of SLOS patients. We propose to answer some of these questions by continuing our longitudinal natural history/prognosis study on patients with SLOS. We also plan on studying very closely related disorders such as lathosterolosis under this protocol. Lathosterolosis is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme sterol 3-beta-hydroxysteroid-delta-5-desaturase which is necessary for the conversion of lathosterol into 7-DHC. The clinical picture is very similar to SLOS with prominent features including microcephaly, ptosis bilateral 2,3 toe syndactyly. Lathosterolosis is also inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Lethosterolosis is extremely rare with only 4 cases described in the literature so far and an estimated incidence of less than 1 in a million. The below objectives, protocol evaluations, risks, benefits and other pertinent issues apply to SLOS and lathosterolosis even if lathosterolosis is not explicitly named.
