Mutation profile of Bardet-Biedl syndrome patients from India: Implicative role of multiallelic rare variants and oligogenic inheritance pattern.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), a rare primary form of ciliopathy, with heterogeneous clinical and genetic presentation is characterized by rod cone dystrophy, obesity, polydactyly, urogenital abnormalities, and cognitive impairment. Here, we delineate the genetic profile in a cohort of 108 BBS patients from India by targeted gene sequencing-based approach for a panel of ciliopathy (including BBS) and other inherited retinal disease genes. We report here a higher frequency of BBS10 and BBS1 gene variations. A different spectrum of variations including a putatively novel gene TSPOAP1, for BBS was identified. Increased percentage frequency of digenic variants (36%) in the disease cohort, role of modifiers in familial cases are some of the salient observations in this work. This study appends the knowledge of BBS genetics pertaining to patients from India. We observed a different molecular epidemiology of BBS patients in this study cohort compared to other reports, which emphasizes the need for molecular testing in affected patients.

Prevalence of primary mutations in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy: A five-year report from a tertiary eye care center in India.

PURPOSE: Genetic testing for primary mutations m.3460G>A, m.11778G>A, and m.14484T>C in ND1, ND4, and ND6 genes of mitochondrial DNA is the recommended assay for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON; OMIM 535000). This report discusses the outcome of molecular genetic screening for these three primary mutations in suspected LHON cases in India. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy-eight unrelated presumed LHON patients who were seen at the neuro-ophthalmology clinic of a tertiary eye care center from 2014-2018 were analyzed. They were genotyped for the three common variants by polymerase chain reaction-based direct sequencing, and their plasmy status was also determined by restriction enzyme digestion. RESULTS: Eighty two of 278 patients were positive for one of the 3 common mutations with m.11778G>A in ND4 gene more frequently distributed (N=72) in homoplasmic state (N=59/82). The mean onset age of visual loss was 21.1years (SD, 9.8 years; range, 5-58 years) in patients harboring the primary mutation. The most common clinical presentation was bilateral sequential painless vision loss with central and cecocentral scotomas in the visual field due to optic disc atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: The study subjects are a sample of a much larger number of suspected LHON cases tested for primary mutations in India. (N= 278) and 29.4% (82/278) of patients harbour one of the 3 common mutations. Screening the entire mitochondrial genome and the other nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial protein, would probably aid in identifying the other less common mtDNA mutations causing LHON in Indian population.

Genetic testing in four Indian families with suspected Stickler syndrome.

Purpose: Stickler syndrome is associated with the development of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), and often presents with ocular, auditory, skeletal, and orofacial abnormalities. Molecular analysis has proven effective in diagnosis, confirmation and classification of the disease. We aimed to describe the utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in genetic analysis of four Indian families with suspected Stickler syndrome. Methods: The index cases presented with retinal detachment with family history. Genetic analysis in the index case was performed by next-generation sequencing of inherited retinal degeneration genes, and validated by Sanger sequencing followed by co-segregation analysis in the other family members. Results: Twenty patients were included for the genetic analysis (15 males and 5 females from four families). Clinical details were available for 15 patients (30 eyes). Fourteen eyes (11 patients) developed RRD. In the 16 eyes without RRD, 8 underwent barrage laser to lattice degeneration and 8 were under observation. Disease segregating heterozygous mutations with pathogenic/likely pathogenic effect was identified in COL2A1 (c.4318-1G>A, c.141G>A, c.1221+1G>A for 3 families) and COL11A1 (c.1737+1 G>A for 1 family) gene. In addition to the mutation in the COL2A1 gene, a pathogenic heterozygous variant associated with risk for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) was identified in one member. Conclusion: NGS testing confirmed the presence of the causative gene for Stickler syndrome in the index case followed by evaluation of family members and confirmation of genetic and ocular findings. We believe that this may be the first such report of families with RRD from India.