Genetics and clinical study of Chinese kindreds with dentatorubral pallidoluysian atrophy / 中华医学遗传学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate genetics and clinical characteristics of dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) in Chinese kindreds.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fragment analysis with laser-induced fluorescence in capillary electrophoresis was performed for the cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats of DRPLA gene in 708 probands of autosomal dominant ataxia pedigrees and 119 sporadic ataxia cases.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Expanded CAG repeats of DRPLA gene were detected in probands of three ataxia pedigrees, with the numbers of repeats being 16/58, 16/58 and 14/54, respectively. In addition to ataxia, patients with adult-onset disease also exhibited spasm and neck torsion.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Only three cases of DRPLA have been identified among 827 cases, which suggested that DRPLA is a relatively rare subtype of SCA in Chinese population. Clinical variation among the patients suggested DRPLA has a wide spectrum of phenotype.</p>