Genetic Variability in Slovenian Cohort of Patients with Oculocutaneous Albinism

Acta Chim Slov. 2021 Sep;68(3):683-692.

Abstract

Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is an inherited disorder affecting the visual system and skin pigmentation. Our aim was to evaluate genetic and clinical heterogeneity in a cohort of Slovenian paediatric patients with clinically suspected OCA using advanced molecular-genetics approach. In as much as 20 out of 25 patients, genetic variants explaining their clinical phenotype were identified. The great majority of patients (15/25) had genetic variants in TYR gene associated with OCA type 1, followed by variants in TYRP1, SLC45A2 and HPS1 genes causative for OCA3, OCA4 and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1, respectively. We concluded that OCA phenotype could not predict genotype and vice versa. Nevertheless, the diagnostic yield after targeted next generation sequencing (NGS) was 80% and proved to be affective in our paediatric cohort of patients with various degree of OCA. Even in 16 patients with normal complexion the diagnostic yield was 62,5%. Interestingly, we have identified a patient of white European ancestry with OCA3, which is an extremely rare report, and one patient with OCA due to the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Albinism, Oculocutaneous / diagnosis
  • Albinism, Oculocutaneous / genetics*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Genetic Testing
  • Genetic Variation*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Phenotype
  • Slovenia
  • Young Adult