phenylketonuria Hear it!

phenylketonuria Definition

phenyl·keto·nu·ria (fen′əl kēt′ə no̵or′ē ə, -nyo̵or′-; -fē′nəl-)

noun

a genetic disorder of phenylalanine metabolism, which, if untreated, causes severe mental retardation in infants through the accumulation of toxic metabolic products

Etymology: phenyl + ketonuria

phenylketonuria Related Forms

phen′yl·ke′to·nu′·ric adjective

phenylketonuria Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • call: The classic example of this is in the disorder called phenylketonuria ( PKU ).
  • develop: Despite developing phenylketonuria during his childhood years his mother Mary encouraged him to paint at the age of twenty-four.

Adjective modifier

genetic: However, it is important to note that infants suffering from the rare genetic disease phenylketonuria ( PKU ) should not consume aspartame.

Modifies a noun

method: These data were used to construct a decision-analysis model of neonatal screening technologies, comparing tandem MS with the existing phenylketonuria screening methods.

Noun used with modifier

disease: However, it is important to note that infants suffering from the rare genetic disease phenylketonuria ( PKU ) should not consume aspartame.