GFM1 Gene

Combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 1 is a severe condition that primarily impairs neurological and liver function.

Most people with combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 1 have severe brain dysfunction (encephalopathy) that worsens over time; they also have difficulty growing and gaining weight at the expected rate (failure to thrive). In some cases, affected individuals have abnormal muscle tone (increased or decreased), developmental delay, seizures, loss of sensation in the limbs (peripheral neuropathy), and an unusually small head (microcephaly). Liver disease is common in people with combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 1, with individuals quickly developing liver failure. Individuals with this condition also usually have a potentially life-threatening buildup of a chemical called lactic acid in the body (lactic acidosis).

The neurological features of combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 1 are largely due to brain abnormalities that include thinning of the tissue that connects the two halves of the brain (corpus callosum hypoplasia) and loss of brain tissue called white matter (leukodystrophy), particularly in an area of the brain called the basal ganglia, which normally helps control movement.

Individuals with combined oxidative phosphorylation deficiency 1 usually do not survive past early childhood, although some people live longer.