Rare hypomagnesemia, seizures, and mental retardation in a 4-month-old patient caused by novel CNNM2 mutation Tyr189Cys: Genetic analysis and review

Abstract

Background: Hypomagnesemia, seizures, and mental retardation (HSMR) syndrome is a rare genetic disease. Presently, only 24 cases have been reported and the clinical features of the disease are yet to be fully described, thereby making diagnosis challenging.

Methods: Trio-whole-exome sequencing was used for the patient and her parents, and the structure of the variant protein was analyzed by molecular dynamics. Finally, the characteristics of HSMR were summarized by reviewing the previous literature.

Results: The main disease manifestations in the patient were seizures, liver function damage, hypomagnesemia, atrial septal defect, and sinus arrhythmia. A novel mutation in CNNM2 (c.566A>G/p.Tyr189Cys) was identified by genetic detection. The parents were wild type, and the mutation was rated as pathogenic by American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines. Ab initio modeling and molecular dynamics simulation show that the mutation destroys the surrounding hydrogen bonds, which may reduce the local stability of the protein structure. In the previous literature, only 24 children with HSMR have been reported, mainly manifested as hypomagnesemia, mental retardation, seizures, and language and motor impairment.

Conclusion: We have reported the second case of HSMR in the Chinese population, which further expands the phenotypic spectrum of congenital heart disease and the variation spectrum of CNNM2.

Keywords: CNNM2; CHD; HSMR; hypomagnesemia; mental retardation; seizures.