Genomic newborn screening: ICoNS
Gene: BCKDHA
Discussed at Gene list subcommittee meeting 13/03/26: included in RUSP and now included by most studies, including in latest BeginNGS list (previous outlier).Created: 13 Mar 2026, 7:17 a.m. | Last Modified: 13 Mar 2026, 7:17 a.m.
Panel Version: 0.31
Mode of inheritance
BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal
Phenotypes
Maple syrup urine disease, type Ia, MIM# 248600
Gene–disease association evidence:
Disease: Maple syrup urine disease type 1A (MSUD1A), autosomal recessive.
Gene: BCKDHA encodes the E1α subunit of the branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex. Loss of function at the protein level reduces BCKD activity and causes toxic accumulation of branched-chain amino acids and ketoacids. BCKDHA variants account for ~45% of MSUD cases
Curation by ClinGen:
ClinGen gene–disease validity: Definitive
Treatability and evidence behind that including impact of treatment:
Standard care is dietary leucine restriction, BCAA-free supplements, supplementation with isoleucine and valine as needed, and frequent biochemical monitoring. Acute metabolic crises need urgent metabolic management.
Early treatment of asymptomatic infants detected by NBS means that most who would have developed neonatal manifestations remain asymptomatic with good treatment adherence . NBS cases has better survival than clinically diagnosed cases: 62.5% versus 5.2%
For severe MSUD, liver transplantation can be an option
Issues with genomic screening
Main problem would be turnaround time
Any variants of interest
The pathogenic spectrum is dominated by missense variants, also there also reported truncating variants.
c.1312T>A, p.Tyr438Asn (Old Order/Swiss Mennonites). High prevalence in these populations
Who has excluded in genomic newborn screening it and why:
BeginNGS in previous genelists, now included
Traditional newborn screening in any jurisdiction:
Included in RUSP and most NBS wordlwide
Sources: LiteratureCreated: 12 Mar 2026, 9:16 p.m.
Mode of inheritance
BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal
Gene: bckdha has been classified as Green List (High Evidence).
Phenotypes for gene: BCKDHA were changed from to Maple syrup urine disease, type Ia, MIM# 248600
Gene: bckdha has been classified as Green List (High Evidence).
gene: BCKDHA was added gene: BCKDHA was added to Genomic newborn screening: ICoNS. Sources: Literature Mode of inheritance for gene: BCKDHA was set to BIALLELIC, autosomal or pseudoautosomal