Evaluation of HPFH and 뫧-thalassemia mutations in a Brazilian group with high Hb F levels.

Fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) is characteristic of the fetal development period. However, in some genetic conditions, such as hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) and delta-beta thalassemia (뫧-thalassemia), Hb F continues to be produced in adulthood. We evaluated the frequency of two mutations of HPFH, HPFH-1 and HPFH-2 African, and two mutations in 뫧-thalassemia, Sicilian and Spanish, in a Brazilian population. Peripheral blood samples were collected from adults from hospitals and blood centers in southeast and northeast Brazil. These individuals were healthy and without complaints of anemia, but had increased Hb F. Samples were submitted to electrophoretic and chromatographic analyses to quantify Hb F values and, subsequently, to molecular analyses to verify the mutations. In the molecular analysis, 16 of the 60 samples showed a heterozygous profile for the HPFH mutations, two for HPFH-1 and 14 for HPFH-2. In the same sample set, three were heterozygous for Spanish 뫧-thalassemia and none were heterozygous for Sicilian 뫧- thalassemia. The Hb F values in the HPFH-2 heterozygotes differed from those previously reported for this mutation. In this group, the HPFH mutations were more frequent than the 뫧-thalassemia mutations. The finding of these mutations in this Brazilian population reflects the mixing process that occurred during its formation.

Six novel mutations of the LDL receptor gene in FH kindred of Sicilian and Paraguayan descent.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant inherited disease caused by mutations in the gene coding for the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R). It is characterized by a high concentration of low density lipoprotein (LDL), which frequently gives rise to premature coronary artery disease. We studied the probands of five FH Sicilian families with 'definite' FH and one proband of Paraguayan descent with homozygous FH who has been treated with an effective living-donor liver transplantation. In order to seek the molecular defect in these six families, we used direct sequencing to define the molecular defects of the LDL-R gene responsible for the disease. We described three novel missense mutations (C100Y, C183Y and G440C), two frameshift mutations (g.1162delC in exon 8 and g.2051delC in exon 14) and one mutation (g.2390-1Gright curved arrow A) at splicing acceptor consensus sequences located in intron 16 of the LDL-R gene; the analysis of cDNA of this splicing mutation showed the activation of a cryptic splice site in intron 16 and the binding studies showed a reduction in internalisation of LDL-DIL in the proband's cultured fibroblasts. Moreover, a g.2051delC in exon 14 was identified in the proband of Paraguayan ancestry with clinical features of homozygous FH. The mutation identified in the South American patient represents the first description of a variant in South American patients other than Brazilian FH patients. The 5 mutations identified in the Sicilian patients confirm the heterogeneity of LDL-R gene mutations in Sicily.