GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:2898

DLD

dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase

protein-coding gene7q31.1Gene information

What does this gene do?

The DLD gene provides instructions for making an enzyme called dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase. This enzyme forms one part (subunit), called the E3 component, of several groups of enzymes that work together (enzyme complexes). These complexes are essential for the breakdown of certain molecules to produce energy in cells.

Branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase, or BCKD, is one of the enzyme complexes that include dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase. The BCKD enzyme complex performs one step in the breakdown of three protein building blocks (amino acids). These amino acids—leucine, isoleucine, and valine—are obtained from the diet. They are present in many kinds of food, particularly protein-rich foods such as milk, meat, and eggs. The breakdown of these amino acids produces molecules that can be used for energy.

Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase is also part of the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex. This enzyme complex plays an important role in the production of energy for cells. It converts a molecule called pyruvate, which is formed from the breakdown of carbohydrates, into another molecule called acetyl-CoA. Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase performs one step of this chemical reaction. The conversion of pyruvate is essential to begin the series of chemical reactions that ultimately produces adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell's main energy source.

Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase is part of a third enzyme complex involved in cellular energy production. This complex, called alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (αKGDH), converts a molecule called α-ketoglutarate to another molecule called succinyl-CoA. Further steps in this process generate ATP for cells to use as energy.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2025-04-03. Source review: 2014-09.

ClinGen reviews

ClinGen reviews the evidence linking a particular gene to a condition. Each rating below describes the strength of that link. It does not classify a variant in your DNA file.

Condition	Inheritance	Evidence
Leigh syndromeMONDO:0009723 · Evaluated 2021-03-11	Autosomal recessive	DefinitiveMitochondrial Diseases Gene Curation Expert Panel
pyruvate dehydrogenase E3 deficiencyMONDO:0009529 · Evaluated 2019-03-08	Autosomal recessive	DefinitiveAminoacidopathy Gene Curation Expert Panel

ClinVar records

These numbers show what has been submitted to ClinVar. They cannot tell you how likely you are to have a condition.

Submitted alleles: 775
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 1,362
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 1,332
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 157
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 185
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 23

The rows count different things: alleles, submissions or VariationIDs. Their categories can overlap, so do not add them together. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic counts exclude structural variants that merely overlap a gene. A dash in the source means “not reported,” not zero.

NCBI produces the gene-summary file each week using counts recorded at the start of the month. The numbers may differ from those on the live ClinVar website. Read the field definitions ↗

View this gene in ClinVar ↗

YOUR DNA FILE

Can your DNA file tell you about DLD?

From a DNA test kit (such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage). These kits check a fixed list of about 600,000 to 700,000 positions across your whole genome. ClinVar lists 157 alleles in DLD reported as pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A kit checks only some of these positions, and often none of them.

From whole genome sequencing (a VCF file). Sequencing reads most of your genome. Your file lists the places where your DNA differs from the reference genome. Some regions are hard to sequence, including parts of some genes that have near-identical copies elsewhere, and a VCF file does not record which positions were read well.

If a variant is not in your file, that does not mean you don’t have it.

What BioDecode checks

BioDecode compares every variant in your file with ClinVar, on your own computer. For each match, it shows the ClinVar classification, the review status and the condition it was reported for. Your file is not uploaded.

A ClinVar classification applies to one particular variant and the condition it was reported for. It does not tell you about other variants in DLD.

BioDecode cannot fill gaps in your test, diagnose a condition or replace clinical testing.

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