Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffPrader-Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder, a condition caused by an error in a gene or genes. Although the exact genes responsible for Prader-Willi syndrome haven't been identified, the problem is known to lie in a particular region of chromosome 15.
With the exceptions of genes related to sex characteristics, all genes come in pairs, one copy inherited from your father (paternal gene) and one copy inherited from your mother (maternal gene). For most types of genes, if one copy is "active," or expressed, then the other copy also is expressed.
However, some types of genes act alone. In other words, it's normal with certain genes for the paternal gene to be expressed and the maternal gene to be "silent."
What happens in Prader-Willi syndrome
Prader-Willi syndrome occurs because certain paternal genes that should be expressed aren't for one of the following reasons:
- Paternal genes on chromosome 15 are missing.
- The person has inherited two copies of chromosome 15 from the mother and no chromosome 15 from the father.
- There's some error or defect in paternal genes on chromosome 15.
The genetic defect of Prader-Willi syndrome disrupts the normal functions of a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus. Among its many functions, the hypothalamus controls hunger and thirst and releases hormones that prompt the release of other substances responsible for growth and sexual development. A malfunctioning hypothalamus — caused by the defect on chromosome 15 — interferes with each of these processes, resulting in uncontrollable hunger, stunted growth, sexual underdevelopment and other characteristics of Prader-Willi syndrome.
- Cassidy SB, et al. Prader-Willi syndrome. European Journal of Human Genetics. 2009;17:3.
- Prader-Willi syndrome. Genetics Home Reference. National Library of Medicine. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/prader-willi-syndrome/show/print. Accessed Feb. 23, 2011.
- Scheimann AO. Clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of Prader-Willi syndrome. http://www.uptodate.com/index.html. Accessed Feb. 15, 2011.
- McCandless SE, et al. Health Supervision for Children With Prader-Willi Syndrome. Pediatrics. 2011;127:195.
- Cassidy SB, et al. Prader-Willi Syndrome. In: Pagon RA, et al., eds. GeneReviews. Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington; 1993. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1330/. Accessed Feb. 23, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on