Chronic Granulomatous Disease Presenting in a 69-Year-Old Man

Abstract

CHRONIC granulomatous disease is a rare inherited disease characterized by severe recurrent bacterial and fungal infections beginning in childhood.¹ Phagocytes from patients with chronic granulomatous disease exhibit defective killing of ingested microorganisms because of deficient production of Superoxide and related microbial oxidants by the NADPH oxidase of the phagocyte. The active oxidase complex is composed of both membrane and cytosolic proteins that catalyze the one-electron transfer from NADPH to oxygen, thus forming Superoxide.² It is now recognized that chronic granulomatous disease can result from genetic defects in at least four different oxidase polypeptides.