Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on May 7, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction 2008 14(6):367-370; doi:10.1093/molehr/gan027
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The prevalence of intragenic deletions in patients with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and Kallmann syndrome
1Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine 2Section of Reproductive Endocrinology, Infertility and Genetics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 3Reproductive Medicine Program 4Developmental Neurobiology Program, The Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics 5Neuroscience Program, The Medical College of Georgia, 1120 15th Street Augusta, GA, USA 6Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukie, WI, USA 7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukie, WI, USA 8 Columbia Fertility Associates, Washington, DC, USA
9 Correspondence address. Tel: +1-706-721-3832; Fax: +1-706-721-6830; E-mail: llayman{at}mcg.edu
Idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) and Kallmann syndrome (KS) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders caused by a deficiency of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Mutations in three genes—KAL1, GNRHR and FGFR1—account for 15–20% of all causes of IHH/KS. Nearly all mutations are point mutations identified by traditional PCR-based DNA sequencing. The relatively new method of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) has been successful for detecting intragenic deletions in other genetic diseases. We hypothesized that MLPA would detect intragenic deletions in
15–20% of our cohort of IHH/KS patients. Fifty-four IHH/KS patients were studied for KAL1 deletions and 100 were studied for an autosomal panel of FGFR1, GNRH1, GNRHR, GPR54 and NELF gene deletions. Of all male and female subjects screened, 4/54 (7.4%) had KAL1 deletions. If only anosmic males were considered, 4/33 (12.1%) had KAL1 deletions. No deletions were identified in any of the autosomal genes in 100 IHH/KS patients. We believe this to be the first study to use MLPA to identify intragenic deletions in IHH/KS patients. Our results indicate
12% of KS males have KAL1 deletions, but intragenic deletions of the FGFR1, GNRH1, GNRHR, GPR54 and NELF genes are uncommon in IHH/KS.
Key words: Kallmann syndrome/KAL1 gene/hypogonadotropic hypogonadism/idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism/MLPA
Submitted on February 16, 2008; resubmitted on April 11, 2008; accepted on April 23, 2008.