Menkes disease (MNK), also known as Menkes syndrome,[1][2] is an X-linked recessive disorder caused by mutations in genes coding for the copper-transport protein ATP7A,[3] leading to copper deficiency.[4][5] Characteristic findings include kinky hair, growth failure, and nervous system deterioration. Like all X-linked recessive conditions, Menkes disease is more common in males than in females. The disorder was first described by John Hans Menkes in 1962.[6]
Onset occurs during infancy, with incidence of about 1 in 100,000 to 250,000 newborns; affected infants often do not live past the age of three years, though there are rare cases in which less severe symptoms emerge later in childhood.[7]
^Rensing, Christopher; McDevitt, Sylvia Franke (2013). "The Copper Metallome in Prokaryotic Cells". Metallomics and the Cell. Metal Ions in Life Sciences. Vol. 12. pp. 417–450. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5561-1_12. ISBN978-94-007-5560-4.
^Menkes JH, Alter M, Steigleder GK, Weakley DR, Sung JH (1962). "A sex-linked recessive disorder with retardation of growth, peculiar hair, and focal cerebral and cerebellar degeneration". Pediatrics. 29: 764–779. PMID14472668.