A case of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy-like syndrome complicated by several endocrinopathies: normal Gs alpha gene and chromosome 2q37.

Abstract

We report a sporadic case of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO)-like syndrome with several endocrinopathies. A 37-yr-old woman had an appearance of AHO but did not have renal PTH resistance. Her case was complicated by non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with severe insulin resistance, central diabetes insipidus, and hyposecretion of GH. Most patients with AHO are found in a family of pseudohypoparathyroidism type-Ia and have a heterozygous mutation that inactivates the alpha-subunit of Gs (Gs alpha), the stimulatory regulator of adenylyl cyclase. Some sporadic cases occur in which patients with phenotype similar to AHO have a deletion of chromosome 2q37. However, in this patient, both the Gs alpha gene structure and the biological activity were normal. In addition, chromosome analysis revealed a normal pattern with no visible deletion of chromosome 2q37. Our findings suggest that one or more other factors may be involved in the pathogenesis of AHO-related disease.