High frequencies of biotinidase (BTD) gene mutations in the Hungarian population.

Biotinidase deficiency, an autosomal recessively inherited disorder, is characterized by neurologic and cutaneous symptoms and can be detected by newborn screening. In Hungary the national screening programme was launched in 1989 with two screening centres. Over 1,070,000 neonates from western Hungary were screened for biotinidase deficiency in the Budapest Screening Centre between 1989 and December 2008. In this period, 57 patients with profound or partial biotinidase deficiency from 50 families were identified through routine newborn screening. The incidence of the disorder in western Hungary is 1 in 18,700, which is about three times the worldwide incidence. Twenty-four different mutations were identified in patients including the c.406delC novel mutation in exon 3, which is a frameshift mutation. To better understand the background of the unusually high disease incidence, 100 healthy subjects from the Hungarian population were screened by PCR and RFLP for the frequencies of p.D444H, p.Q456H and p.A171T;p.D444H, the three most common BTD mutations. The frequencies were found to be 5.5, 0.5 and 0%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the frequencies of two of the most common biotinidase variant alleles are higher in the Hungarian population than in other Caucasian populations. This and the presence of a unique Hungarian mutation may explain the high incidence of biotinidase deficiency in Hungary.

Molecular and clinical analysis of patients with classic and Duarte galactosemia in western Hungary.

BACKGROUND: Classic galactosemia is an autosomal recessively inherited disorder caused by deficient activity of the enzyme galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase. The disorder can be detected by newborn screening and in Hungary the national screening program was launched in 1976 with two screening centers. The aim of this study was the molecular characterization of the genotypes and analysis of genotype-phenotype correlation among patients with classic or variant galactosemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: DNA samples from 40 patients were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction followed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: 16 different sequence variations were identified, including two novel missense mutations (p.S297P, p.E146D). The two most common mutations were p. Q188R and p.K285N with allele frequencies of 45% and 31.2%, respectively. Clinical data were evaluated with respect to the genotypes found. CONCLUSIONS: The most serious clinical phenotypes in our population were associated with mutations p. Q188R, p.K285N, p.X380R, p.S297P, p.M142K, p.R.204X, p.Q169K and p.R407P, but manifestations depend on other genetic and environmental factors.

[Frequencies of the Los Angeles and Duarte galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase variant alleles in the Hungarian population]. / A Los Angeles és Duarte galaktóz-1-foszfát-uridil-transzferáz-variánsok allélgyakorisága a magyar populációban.

UNLABELLED: Classical galactosaemia is an autosomal recessively inherited disorder caused by deficient activity of the enzyme galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT), which can be detected by newborn screening. The p.N314D mutation defines two variant forms of the GALT enzyme, the Los Angeles and Duarte, depending on the presence of additional base changes. AIM: The aim of our study was to analyze a healthy Hungarian population for the frequencies of the Los Angeles and Duarte galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase variant alleles. METHODS: DNA samples from 100 subjects were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, followed by digestion with restriction endonucleases. RESULTS: The frequencies of the p.N314D, the Los Angeles and the Duarte variants were 11.5%, 2.5% and 9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The allele frequencies of the Los Angeles and Duarte variant alleles in the Hungarian population correlate well with the allele frequencies in other healthy Caucasian populations.

Mutations causing biotinidase deficiency in children ascertained by newborn screening in Western Hungary.

In Hungary the national newborn screening programme for the detection of biotinidase deficiency was launched in 1989. In this study, we determined the genotypes of all patients identified at the Budapest Screening Centre that covers half of the country. The incidence of the disorder in Western Hungary is about three times the worldwide incidence. Overall, 21 different mutations were identified in 49 patients, including four novel mutations. Ten mutations proved to be unique to the Hungarian population.