connective tissue disease
connective tissue disease, any of the diseases that affect human connective tissue. Diseases of the connective tissue can be divided into (1) a group of relatively uncommon genetic disorders that affect the primary structure of connective tissue and (2) a number of acquired maladies in which the connective tissues are the site of several more or less distinctive immunological and inflammatory reactions. The hereditary (genetic) connective tissue diseases include Marfan syndrome, homocystinuria, and osteogenesis imperfecta. The acquired diseases include, among many others, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatic fever, and osteoarthritis. Both types of disease are described in this article.
Hereditary disorders of connective tissue
Hereditary disorders of connective tissue are a heterogeneous group of generalized single-gene-determined disorders that affect one or another of the primary elements of the connective tissues (collagen, elastin, or ground substance [glycosaminoglycans]). Many cause skeletal and joint abnormalities that may interfere seriously with normal growth and development. These conditions are rare compared with the acquired connective tissue diseases.
Marfan syndrome, also called arachnodactyly (“spider fingers”), is the most common of the hereditary disorders of connective tissue, having an estimated prevalence of about 15 cases per 1,000,000 population. In Marfan syndrome a genetic mutation causes a defect in the production of fibrillin, a protein found in connective tissue. The main skeletal characteristic is excessive length of the extremities. Weakness of joint capsules, ligaments, tendons, and fasciae is responsible for such manifestations as double-jointedness, recurrent dislocations, spinal deformities, flat feet, hernias, and dislocation of the lens of the eye. Cardiovascular abnormalities, which result from weakness in the middle coat (media) of the great vessels, include insufficiency of the aortic valve and aneurysm (weakening of the wall and consequent bulging) of the ascending segment of the aorta.
Marfan syndrome is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait; in other words, the gene involved is not a sex gene. No more than 15 percent of cases occur as an isolated instance in a family and may be attributable to a new mutation. Death is usually due to heart failure or an aneurysm of the aorta. A normal life span is possible with medications that control blood pressure; surgical replacement of the aorta may also prolong an affected individual’s life span.
Homocystinuria, so called because of the presence of the amino acid homocystine in the urine, may closely resemble Marfan syndrome. Distinctive from the latter, however, is the occurrence of progressive mental deterioration, fair skin with a tendency to flushing, osteoporosis (thinning of the bones), which may result in fractures, and thrombosis (blood clotting) of the coronary blood vessels and the medium-size peripheral blood vessels. Homocystinuria is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait (it is not manifested unless inherited from both parents). Affected persons have a deficiency of cystathionine synthetase, the enzyme required for the conversion of the amino acid cystathionine to cysteine. Death from vascular occlusion secondary to atherosclerosis is common during childhood, but persons with the disorder have survived into their 50s.
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is manifested particularly by an abnormal skin elasticity and fragility and by loose-jointedness. The skin, peculiarly stretchable even in early childhood, gradually loses its elasticity. Minor injury can cause lacerations that tend to bleed severely and to extend. Scoliosis (lateral curvature of the spine), recurrent dislocations of joints, and hernias of the abdominal wall or the diaphragm (the muscular partition between the chest and the abdomen) are seen as in Marfan syndrome, and there may be blue sclerae (the “whites” of the eye). The underlying defect of the disorder has not been determined, but it is likely that it involves the abnormal organization of collagen bundles. Some researchers have also detected an excess of elastin fibres in the connective tissue of persons with the disease. (Collagen and elastin are two of the fibrous proteins in connective tissue.) It is now clear that there are at least 10 distinct varieties of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The disease is most commonly inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Death from rupture of a major blood vessel may occur in childhood, but most affected persons live at least to middle age.
Osteogenesis imperfecta is a disorder of connective tissue characterized by thin-walled, extremely fracture-prone bones deficient in osteoblasts (bone-forming cells), as well as by malformed teeth, blue sclerae, and progressive deafness. Type I osteogenesis imperfecta is the result of a dominant gene. It develops in childhood and is typified by single fractures from trivial stress. The tendency to fracture lessens at puberty. Type II osteogenesis imperfecta, the result of a recessive gene, is more severe and less common than type I. The child at birth suffers from countless fractures, and life expectancy is short. The fundamental defect in this disorder appears to involve the synthesis of collagen fibres.
Alkaptonuria is a rare inherited (autosomal recessive) disorder in which the absence of the liver and kidney enzyme homogentisic acid oxidase results in an abnormal accumulation of homogentisic acid, a normal intermediate in the metabolism of the amino acid tyrosine. Some homogentisic acid is excreted in the urine, to which, upon alkalinization and oxidation, it imparts a black colour. The remainder is deposited in cartilage and, to a lesser degree, in the skin and sclerae. The resultant darkening of these tissues by this pigment is termed ochronosis and is accompanied by gradual erosion of cartilage and progressive joint disease.
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, also known as Grönblad-Strandberg syndrome, primarily affects the skin, eyes, and blood vessels. The word pseudoxanthoma refers to the yellowish papules (pimplelike protuberances) that occur most commonly in the folds of the skin of the neck, armpits, and groin. The colour results from the thickening and fragmentation of elastic fibres in the deep layers of the skin. Calcium deposition may occur in the skin, and premature arteriosclerosis is common. The characteristic eye lesion is that of angioid streaks of the retina, which are found in at least 80 percent of cases of the disease. Deterioration of vision may occur because of bleeding or degenerative changes. Bleeding in the stomach is also fairly common.
The mucopolysaccharidoses include eight or more separate lysosomal storage disorders that, to varying degrees, affect the skeleton, brain, eyes, heart, and liver. The varieties have in common the abnormal production, the storage, and the excessive excretion of one or more mucopolysaccharides (now known as glycosaminoglycans; complex high-molecular-weight carbohydrates that form the chief constituent of the ground substance between the connective tissue cells and fibres). The mucopolysaccharidoses include Hurler syndrome, Scheie syndrome, Hunter syndrome, Sanfilippo syndrome, Morquio syndrome, and Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome.
Hurler syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type I, is the most common and most rapidly fatal. Few children afflicted with it reach the age of 10. Abnormalities begin to appear when the infant is a few months old; cerebral function deteriorates gradually, and various deformities of the extremities and face develop, accentuated by stiffness of the joints. The facial deformities and dwarfed, deformed bodies that occur in Hurler syndrome and in Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type II) are referred to as gargoylism. Individuals with a mucopolysaccharidosis other than Hurler syndrome commonly live to adulthood, but a normal life span is unusual. The mode of inheritance is autosomal recessive in all the types except Hunter syndrome, which is sex-linked recessive (only males show the disease).
In myositis ossificans progressiva, bone develops in tendons, fasciae, and striated (striped or voluntary) muscle. Skeletal growth is normal, although certain abnormalities occur in the majority of cases, particularly shortening of the thumbs or of the big toes or both. Symptoms usually begin in childhood and progress irregularly until the third decade of life. Lesions may begin abruptly with local tenderness, swelling, and fever or may develop very gradually, with increasing stiffness and firmness as the only symptoms.
Familial osteochondritis dissecans is an inherited disease in which cartilage and a piece of bone connected to it detach from the end of the bone in a joint. This occurs because a protein in cartilage that normally gives cartilage its gel-like qualities is mutated; the abnormal protein can no longer attach to other substances in cartilage, thereby substantially weakening the tissue. In general, the disease affects multiple joints in the body. Because onset typically is early in life, affected individuals have short stature, and they develop osteoarthritis, with cartilage and bone breakdown, at a young age (e.g., between ages 10 and 20). A related condition, sporadic osteochondritis dissecans, commonly affects children who are active in high-impact sports or sports involving repetitive movements; the sporadic condition is not hereditary.