Relationship between X-inactivation and clinical involvement in Fabry heterozygotes. Eleven novel mutations in the alpha-galactosidase A gene in the Czech and Slovak population.

We have identified 21 different alpha-galactosidase A gene (GLA) mutations in 22 unrelated Czech and Slovak families with Fabry disease. Eleven of these mutations were novel (point mutations D93N, A135V, D155H, G171R, Q280K, G360S, Q330X, splicing errors c.194ins14, c.801ins36 and deletions c.674_732del59, g.3405_6021del2617). Genotyping of family members for family-specific mutations revealed 55 heterozygotes that manifested clinical symptoms of different severity. To examine the contribution of X-inactivation skewing to disease manifestation in Fabry heterozygotes, we have adopted the Mainz severity scoring scheme and compared the score values with the X-inactivation status in 39 carriers in an age-dependent manner. The age-score trendline of Fabry females who had a predominantly inactivated X-chromosome bearing a wild-type GLA allele (10 of 38 females) was markedly steeper than in the rest of the cohort. One female carrier with an inactivated mutated allele had a low score value when compared to the other heterozygotes of the same age. These data suggest that X-inactivation is indeed a major factor determining the severity of clinical involvement in Fabry heterozygotes. There was a statistically significant difference between the severity score values of heterozygotes with random and non-random X-chromosome inactivation at the 5% level of significance. Further studies will show if the degree of the wildtype allele inactivation will be useful as a predictive marker of severity of phenotype in Fabry heterozygotes. Although the correlation between X-inactivation skewing and presentation of the disease in Fabry heterozygotes has previously been suggested in the literature, this report is among the first attempts to examine this relationship systematically.

Recurrence of Fabry disease as a result of paternal germline mosaicism for alpha-galactosidase a gene mutation.

We present two sisters with a severe form of Fabry disease, who both carry the same mutation in the alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-gal A) gene (Q330X). Each of the sisters developed renal failure in the third decade of life; the older sibling underwent renal transplantation at 40 years of age. The severe phenotype of the siblings correlates with results of the X-inactivation study: examination of methylation status in human androgene receptor (HUMARA) gene suggests preferential inactivation of the wild-type allele in both patients. Patients' parents had no symptoms of Fabry disease and were tested negative for the mutation Q330X in DNA isolated from peripheral leukocytes, mouth wash cells, and urinary sediment cells. Genotype analysis using DXS7424 marker showed paternal origin of the mutation. The father's sperm was then tested for presence of the mutation to examine the possibility of the germline mosaicism. Both mutant and wild-type alleles were found in DNA isolated from father's sperm. The apparent explanation of these findings is germline mosaicism due to mutation event during the embryonic development of sperm producing cells (spermatogonia). This is the first case of germline mosaicism in Fabry disease reported in the literature.