Objective: To investigate the clinical features and detection of pantothenate kinase 2 (PANK2) gene mutation in a Chinese patient with Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome (HSS).
Methods: The clinical features were analyzed in one HSS patient. PANK2 gene mutations were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequence analysis in this patient, her parents and 50 unrelated healthy persons.
Results: The main symptoms of this patient were involuntary movements, dysarthria and progressive course. MRI scans showed hypointensity with a central region of hyperintensity in medial globus pallidus on T2 and T2-weighted fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images, i.e. "eye-of-the-tiger" sign. Novel compound heterozygous PANK2 gene mutations, G115T and A803G, were found in this patient, leading to substitution of a glutamic acid for a premature stop codon at amino acid 39 (E39X) and an aspartic acid for glycine codon at amino acid 268 (D268G) respectively. The father was a heterozygote for G115T mutation and the mother a heterozygote for A803G mutation.
Conclusion: PANK2 gene mutations are present in Chinese HSS patients. And A803G mutation of PANK2 gene is probably a hot spot.