Association between mutations of SCN9A gene and pain related to Parkinsonism / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To screening mutations of exons 15, 18 and 26 of sodium channel Nav1.7 (SCN9A) gene, and to assess its association with pain related to Parkinsonism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Respectively, 101 patients with primary Parkinson's disease (PD) and 104 similar-aged volunteers without PD were recruited from March, 2008 to January, 2011. Mutations of above 3 exons in SCN9A gene was detected with PCR and direct sequencing. For 100 patients with Parkinsonism, the pain was scored with a McGill pain rating scale. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The prevalence of pain in Parkinsonian was 57%. 43.86% patients with pain were males, and 56.14% were females. Based on Chaudhuri criteria, the pain symptoms may be classified as musculoskeletal pain (10.52%), radicular pain (10.52%), dyskinesis pain (54.38%), pain from akathisia and restlessness (14.04%), dyskinesis combined with radicular pain (5.26%), skeletal muscles pain and headache (1.75%), and arthralgia (3.50%). Two missense mutations were identified, which included 2794A/C (0.941/0.059) (rs12478318) (M932L) in exon 15 and 3448C/T (0.988/0.012) (rs6746030) (R1150W) in exon 18. The wild type A/C for the 2794 locus had a higher prevalence in PD patients with pain, but this was not statistically different. All of the 5 heterozygotes for 3448 (C/T) were found in Parkinsonian patients with pain. No homozygotes were found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The prevalence of pain was higher in Parkinsonian patients than general population, and the proportion of males to females was similar. More patients have suffered dyskinesis pain. A 3448 (C/T) mutation of SCN9A gene may be related to pathogenesis of pain in Parkinsonism.</p>

Denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with multiplex PCR for rapid detection of large duplications or deletions in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of multiplex PCR-denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (PCR-DHPLC) method for screening large duplications or deletions in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>DNA was extracted from peripheral venous blood samples from 35 DMD and 6 SMA patients. Large duplications or deletions were screened with multiplex PCR coupled with DHPLC method. The results were validated with testing of positive and negative controls.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Known duplications or deletions in all controls were reliably detected with multiple PCR coupled with DHPLC. Large duplications or deletions were found in 71.4% of 35 DMD patients, which included 5 large duplications and 20 large deletions. For SMA patients, deletions of SMN1 exon 7 were detected in 16 samples.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Multiplex PCR coupled with DHPLC method is an effective and reliable method for detecting large genomic duplications or deletions in patients with DMD or SMA.</p>

PINK1 IVS5-5 G>A polymorphism may contribute to the risk of late onset Parkinson disease in Chinese / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the possible association of IVS5-5G>A polymorphism, positioned in the upstream region of exon 5 of PINK1 gene with the risk for sporadic late onset Parkinson disease (LOPD) in Chinese.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Intronic regulatory sequence analysis was performed using the web-based in-silico analysis. The authors performed an association study using a case-control series (comprising 382 LOPD patients and 336 controls, Chinese of Han ancestry). Genotyping was performed by PCR-based denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) combined with sequencing analyses. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared by the Chi-square test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In-silico analysis showed that the intronic IVS5-5G>A polymorphism was located within acceptor site of exon 5 and may be the functional single polymorphism (SNP) in the regulatory region with impact on the splicing of PINK1 gene. Those result yielded statistical significant evidence for the association of PINK1 IVS5-5G>A polymorphism with risk for typical PD in Chinese Han population (OR=1.95, 95%CI: 1.29-2.94, P=0.0012). Homozygote of A allele may have increased risk for LOPD (OR=2.45, 95%CI: 1.27-4.72, P=0.009).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The authors provide the first evidence that the common genetic variation PINK1 IVS5-5G>A may contribute to the risk of LOPD in Chinese population.</p>

DJ-1 gene and Parkinson disease / 基础医学与临床

Recently,more and more attention have been focused on the role of genetics in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease.DJ1 gene is a newly discovered gene related to Parkinson disease.Here,the structure,tissue location and pathological properties of the DJ-1 Protein are reviewed.The DJ1 mutant protein and its association with early onset and sporadic Parkinson disease are also discussed in the review.

A study on PARKIN gene in three pedigrees with autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the possible relationship between PARKIN gene and the Chinese pedigree with autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease(AREP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical examination was carried out in 6 patients from 3 Chinese pedigrees with AREP and their 23 family members. PCR amplification of all exons of PARKIN gene was performed. The PCR products were analyzed by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography(DHPLC) to screen for point mutation and polymorphism. And in the samples with abnormal DHPLC result, further sequencing was conducted to confirm the type of mutation and polymorphism.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All exons of PARKIN gene from the research subjects were successfully amplified. A heterozygous point mutation (Gly284Arg) in exon 7 was found in one pedigree. A polymorphism (Ser167Asn) in exon 4 was found in another pedigree. All the patients had the past history of exposure to environmental poison.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>When acting together with risky environmental factors, the heterozygous mutation Gly284Arg in PARKIN gene may cause AREP. The polymorphism Ser167Asn in PARKIN gene increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease and may cause AREP when acting together with hydrargyrism.</p>

New polymorphism (IVS3-20 T-->C) of the parkin gene associated with the early-onset Parkinson's disease in Chinese / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between a new polymorphism (IVS3-20 T>C GenBank accession number: AY463003) in intro 3 of the parkin gene and the risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) in Chinese, particularly the relation between this polymorphism and the age of onset of PD patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>PD was diagnosed according to the criteria of Core Assessment Program for Intracerebral Transplantations(CAPIT). All patients and controls were examined by two neurologists and were of the Han ethnic background. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing were used to determine the genotype of each subject.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 312 PD patients (including 99 early-onset PD patients and 213 late-onset PD patients) and 236 controls were studied. The C/C homozygote was not found in this study. Chi-square analysis revealed that the frequencies of the C allele and T/C genotype were higher in total PD group but were not statistically different from those of the control group (P=0.6350 and 0.6331, respectively). After being stratified by age of onset, the frequency of T/C genotype was significantly higher (OR=3.52, 95%CI 0.97-13.13) in PD group with an onset age at or below 45 years old (7.07%), compared with that in the control group (2.12%). Similarly, C allele was much higher (OR=3.42, 95%CI 0.96-12.57, P=0.0276) in the early-onset PD group (3.90%) than that in the control group (1.06%). The linear trend analysis showed that both the T/C genotype and C allele increased significantly in the PD group with the increase of the onset age [chi-square(trend of Genotypes)=4.414, P=0.036; chi-square(trend of Alleles)=4.344, P=0.037]. On the other hand, there was no difference in the frequencies of allele and genotype between the late-onset PD patients and controls.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The above results suggest that the parkin IVS3-20 T>C polymorphism might be a genetic risk factor for early-onset PD in Chinese.</p>