MATSYAGANDHA

Matsyagandha (OMIM : 602079)

                           ‘Matsyagandha’ or ‘Satyavati’ is a mythological character of the Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’. Satyavati was the queen of the Kuru king Santanu of Hastinapur. Daughter of the Chedi king Vasu and a cursed ‘apsara’ Adrika, Satyavati was brought up as a commoner – the adopted daughter of a fisherman-chieftain Dusharaj. Due to the smell emitted from her body, she was known as Matsyagandha (it means “she who has the smell of fish”).

                        This is comparable with Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) disease [OMIM entry 602079], which is also known as Fish-odor syndrome. TMAU results from the abnormal presence of a large amount of volatile and malodorous trimethylamine within the body. This chemical is excreted in the urine, sweat and breath which take on the offensive odor of decaying fish. Women are more likely than men to have the condition – possibly because female sex hormones such as progesterone and estrogen aggravate the symptoms.

                        Fish-odor syndrome has an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance  and is characterised by mutation of FMO3 gene (which encodes Flavin-containing Monooxygenase 3). FMO3 is present in the long arm (q) of Chromosome 1 at position 24.3 (1q24.3).

Chromosome 1

                       "Future lies in the past" :)