ABSTRACT
@#Abstract: Objective To explore the carrying status of four common deafness genes and mutations on 10 loci in newborns in Hainan, and to analyze the molecular epidemiological characteristics of deafness genes and their loci, so as to provide scientific basis for formulating neonatal deafness gene screening strategy and promoting children's hearing health in Hainan. Methods Newborns born in Hainan from January 2020 to December 2021 were selected as the research objects. The demographic characteristics of the research objects were collected. At the same time, the plantar blood of newborns was collected, and multiplex PCR amplification and directed hybridization combined with high-throughput sequencing technology were applied to detect 10 mutation loci on 4 common deafness genes. T-test or chi square test was used to process the data. Results A total of 7 124 newborns were included in the study through informed consent, 219 cases of deafness gene mutation were detected with the detection rate of deafness gene of 3.07%. The detection rates of GJB2, SLC26A4, MT-RNR1 and GJB3 were 1.56% (111/7 124), 1.18% (84/7 124), 0.21% (15/7 124) and 0.11% (8/7 124) respectively. Among the 10 loci of the four genes, the positive detection rate of c.235delC locus of GJB2 was the highest, which was 1.38% (98/7 124), followed by c.919-2A>G of SLC26A4 (0.87%, 62/7 124); 2.63% (113/4 289) of the newborns who passed the preliminary hearing screening still carried the deafness gene; in terms of gene type, the detection rate of GJB2 gene in newborns who failed the hearing screening was higher than that in newborns who passed the hearing screening [2.23% (63/7 124) vs 1.12% (48/7 124)，P<0.01]; in terms of gene loci, the detection rate of c.235delC locus in newborns who failed hearing screening was higher than that in newborns who passed hearing screening [2.09% (59/7 124) vs 0.91% (39/7 124)，P<0.01]. Conclusion The most common deafness genes types in Hainan were GJB2 and SLC26A4; The most common gene mutation sites were c.235delC and c.919-2A>G; 2.63% of the newborns who passed the preliminary hearing screening still carried the deafness gene, among which the high-risk newborns with MT-RNR1 and GJB3 genes were found. Therefore, hearing screening should be combined with deafness gene screening to improve the detection rate of children at high risk of hearing loss.