Chédiak-Higashi Syndrome

Chédiak-Higashi syndrome, a rare inherited childhood disease characterized by the inability of white blood cells called phagocytes to destroy invading microorganisms.

Persons with Chédiak-Higashi syndrome experience persistent or recurrent infections. Other symptoms associated with the disease include enlargement of the liver and spleen, partial albinism, and depressed activity of other cells, called natural killer cells, that are involved in defending the body against infection.

The inability of phagocytes to kill infectious microorganisms is caused by a defect in a gene that controls the formation of vesicles inside phagocytic cells. Normally phagocytes eliminate microorganisms through a process called phagocytosis, a type of cellular “eating,” in which the phagocyte engulfs and digests a microbe by means of chemicals contained in its vesicles. In individuals with Chédiak-Higashi syndrome, the phagocytes have large, abnormally formed vesicles that make the cells more rigid, less mobile, and unable to destroy microorganisms.

Chédiak-Higashi syndrome is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner (meaning that a child must inherit a copy of the gene responsible for the disease from both parents). Only 200 total cases of the disease have been reported in humans. Persons with this disorder are usually recognized early in life, and few survive to adulthood. Treatments for the disease include long-term antibiotic therapy, bone marrow transplants, and white blood cell or whole blood transfusions. A similar disorder has been observed in mice, Hereford cattle, killer whales, blue smoke Persian cats, and mink.