Acrodermatitis Enteropathica Research Paper

Acrodermatitis enteropathica is a disease that is a result of an autosomal recessive gene disorder. If a person inherits two recessive genes from each parent, they will inherit this disease. If they inherit one recessive gene from only one parent and not the other one, they will become a carrier and might not have any symptoms of this disease. This disease is a result of mutations of the SLC39A4 gene that codes for transport protein ZIP4 which is responsible for the uptake of zinc in the intestine cells of infants. This disease will often show up when the infants are weaned off their mother’s breast, it is believed that somehow breast milk inhibits this disease because it contains zinc, but once the infant is weaned and starts feeding on
The other two scientists were, Niels Christian Gauslaa Dan bold, a Norwegian dermatologist born in November 5th 1900 who graduated in medicine at the university of Oslo in 1925. Karl Phillips Closs, also a Norwegian Physician born in March 6th 1904 in Belgium and graduated in chemistry in Germany, in 1922. These two, coined the word the name Acrodermatitis enteropathica in 1942. There’s not much that’s is discussed about them after their short biographies, other than the fact that the disease name is interchangeable by using any of their names, that is, Dan bolts disease or Dan bolt’s syndrome, Brandt syndrome and Dan bolt-Closs syndrome.
The symptoms of this disease include hair loss, skin lesions that appear like dry patches, sometimes pustules or eczema, chronic diarrhea, open pustules around the mouth, anal area and any openings around the body such as the nostrils. The infant’s growth will be stunted, the muscles will start progressively getting weaker accompanied by mood swings and irritability. If this disease progresses without any intervention, the patient will ultimately die. This disease has no cure but can be treated using a zinc supplement of about one to two milligrams per Kilogram of body weight per