Acatalasemia.

The abnormalities in acatalasemia at the gene level as well as properties of the residual catalase in Japanese acatalasemia are historically reviewed. The replacement of the fifth nucleic acid, guanine, in the fourth intron by adenine in the acatalasemic gene causes a splicing mutation and hence a deficiency of mRNA. The guanine-to-adenine substitution was detected in two Japanese acatalasemic cases from different families. The properties of the residual catalase are similar to those of normal catalase; the exons are identical. The properties of the residual catalase and the molecular defect in the catalase gene are compared among Japanese, Swiss, and mouse acatalasemias. The physiological role of catalase, as judged from human acatalasemic blood and acatalasemic mice, is also described.