Untargeted metabolomics identifies unique though benign biochemical changes in patients with pathogenic variants in UROC1

Urocanic aciduria is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme urocanase (E.C. 4.2.1.49) encoded by the gene UROC1. In the past, deficiency of urocanase has been associated with intellectual disability in a few case studies with some suggestion that the enzyme deficiency was the causative etiology. Here, we describe two phenotypically normal siblings with compound heterozygous pathogenic variants in UROC1 and characteristic biochemical evidence of urocanase deficiency collected utilizing untargeted metabolomic analysis. These findings suggest that urocanic aciduria may represent an otherwise benign biochemical phenotype and that those individuals with concurrent developmental delay should continue to be evaluated for other underlying causes for their symptoms. Keywords: UROC1, Urocanic aciduria, Untargeted metabolomics, Cis-urocanate, Trans-urocanate, Imidazole propionate