ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mutation characteristics of ATP13A2 gene in Chinese patients with familial autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism (AREP). METHODS: Mutations of ATP13A2 gene were screened by polymerase chain reaction combined with DNA direct sequencing in patients with familial AREP. RESULTS: No pathogenic mutations in ATP13A2 gene were detected in this group. Six reported polymorphisms were identified. They were IVS6+70A>G, IVS12+66A>G, m.1849C>T, IVS20-56 G>A, m2671C>T and m2824G>A. CONCLUSION: ATP13A2 gene mutations may be rare in Chinese patients with familial autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism.
Subject(s)
Asian People/genetics , Parkinsonian Disorders/epidemiology , Parkinsonian Disorders/genetics , Proton-Translocating ATPases/genetics , Adult , Age of Onset , Base Sequence , China/epidemiology , DNA Mutational Analysis , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Molecular Sequence Data , Mutation , Pedigree , Polymorphism, GeneticABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease characterized by cerebellar ataxia associated with varying phenotypic variability. It was reported that a few of SCA3/MJD patients showed marked spastic paraplegia with or without cerebellar ataxia, which was partially first diagnosed as hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and considered to be a new subtype (subtype V). But the data in China is still absent. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mutation frequency and clinical features of subtype V of SCA3/MJD in Chinese patients with HSP. METHODS: Mutation detection of MJD1 gene was carried out in 46 AD-HSP families and 58 sporadic cases. RESULTS: Expanded CAG repeats that ranged from 64 to 81 of MJD1 gene were found in six probands from 46 AD-HSP families (13%, 6/46). No abnormal repeat expansion was found in sporadic cases (0/58). The initial symptoms of six SCA3 cases were all spasticity in the lower limbs, and nystagmus, dysphagia and dysarthria that occurred with disease progression seemed more frequent than HSP. CONCLUSION: Subtype V of SCA3/MJD is not rare in China, but it is hard to distinguish between HSP and SCA3/MJD only by clinical manifestation and MRI, and MJD1 gene should be detected routinely in the patients diagnosed as HSP in clinic.