The most common mutation in muscle carnitine palmitoyl-transferase II (CPT
II) deficiency is a missense mutation that replaces a leucine for a serine
residue at amino acid position 113 of the CPT II protein (S113L). We perfor
med molecular analysis in a group of 14 Spanish patients with CPT II defici
ency from ten unrelated families. The S113L mutation was observed in 8 of t
he 14 patients studied. Seven patients were homozygous for the mutation, 1
patient was heterozygous, and 6 patients did not carry the mutation on eith
er allele. Seven healthy relatives belonging to three different families ca
rried the mutation on one allele. One patient carried the missense mutation
that replaces a tyrosine for a serine at amino acid position 628 on one al
lele. Our data indicate that the S113L is also the most common mutation in
Spanish patients with CPT II deficiency in muscle, and that further pathoge
nic mutations remain to be identified. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.