Publications by authors named "Ratna Puri"

Background: The Roma population are an endogamous, genetically isolated, minority population who migrated from North-Western India to Europe from the 10 Century throughout the Byzantine period and continues to the present day. Approximately 10-12 million Romani people reside in segregated settlements in Europe, and smaller populations live in North America and China. In addition to the endogamy, they also practice consanguinity.

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  • The disorder discussed leads to autosomal recessive microcephaly and chorioretinopathy, recently identified as a syndrome due to distinct eye-related symptoms and overlapping features like short stature and microcephaly.
  • A case study details the first Indian family displaying this disorder, where an affected child and fetal sibling shown to have microcephaly and brain abnormalities underwent extensive genomic testing confirming their condition.
  • The findings reveal novel genetic variants and underscore the complexity of diagnosis, emphasizing the importance of whole genome sequencing in rare conditions.
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  • The study aimed to assess molecular changes at the 11p15.5 locus in 32 patients with isolated lateralized overgrowth (ILO).
  • Methylation-sensitive analyses revealed aberrations in 28% of patients, with some showing features similar to Silver Russell syndrome (SRS) and uniparental disomy (UPD) in 9% of cases, though patients did not fully meet SRS criteria.
  • The findings suggest that ILO could be a mild variant of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), with significant implications for patient monitoring and diagnosis.
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  • The IRDiRC Telehealth Task Force investigated how telehealth can enhance diagnosis, care, research, and education related to rare diseases by reviewing literature from 2017 to 2023 and identifying effective models and strategies.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic significantly boosted the adoption of telehealth, highlighting its ability to overcome geographical barriers and improve access to specialized care for rare disease patients.
  • While telehealth presents several benefits, such as decentralized clinical research and enhanced education for local healthcare providers, it also has limitations, including challenges in performing physical exams and building personal relationships with healthcare professionals, thus suggesting it should complement traditional care rather than replace it.
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  • Biallelic variants in the TPK1 gene cause thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome 5 (THMD5), leading to neurodevelopmental issues like ataxia and dystonia, with a total of 27 families documented with this condition.
  • In this study, three individuals from unrelated families were analyzed using singleton exome sequencing, which identified a novel homozygous variant (c.620A>T p.(Asp207Val)) in the TPK1 gene.
  • The in silico analysis indicated this variant decreases protein stability and alters interactions, suggesting it is likely responsible for THMD5 in the affected individuals, particularly noted to be recurrent among the Indian population.
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  • The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) Diagnostic Scientific Committee (DSC) focuses on improving diagnosis for rare diseases through global coordination and research.
  • Their goals include ensuring timely diagnoses, establishing effective diagnostic pathways, and evaluating how rare diseases impact patients.
  • The DSC has compiled research priorities and shared real-life clinical cases to highlight existing diagnostic challenges and underscore the importance of their mission.
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  • Current diagnostic methods for lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) in India are lengthy and expensive, relying on biochemical tests and DNA sequencing, which often yield low results due to overlapping symptoms.
  • Researchers have created a novel, cost-effective sequencing assay using single-molecule molecular inversion probes (smMIPs) that accurately identifies genetic variants linked to 29 common LSDs.
  • The new assay showed a high diagnostic yield of 83.4% in patients with previous biochemical diagnoses and effectively detected rare diseases like Niemann-Pick type C, outperforming traditional methods and allowing for flexible use with different sample types.
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Next generation sequencing based diagnosis has emerged as a promising tool for evaluating critically ill neonates and children. However, there is limited data on its utility in developing countries. We assessed its diagnostic rate and clinical impact on management of pediatric patients with a suspected genetic disorder requiring critical care.

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Oculocutaneous albinism is an inherited disorder of melanin biosynthesis, characterized by absent or reduced pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes. Molecular alterations of genes that cause non-syndromic albinism in Asian Indians are poorly characterized. This information would be useful for developing therapies for this disorder.

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Background: Patients, families, the healthcare system, and society as a whole are all significantly impacted by rare diseases (RDs). According to various classifications, there are currently up to 9,000 different rare diseases that have been recognized, and new diseases are discovered every month. Although very few people are affected by each uncommon disease individually, millions of people are thought to be impacted globally when all these conditions are considered.

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Objectives: To determine the diagnostic yield of next generation sequencing (NGS) in patients with moderate/severe/profound intellectual disability (ID) unexplained by conventional tests and to assess the impact of definitive diagnosis on the clinical management and genetic counselling of these families.

Methods: This was a ambi-directional study conducted at Institute of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. The study comprised 227 patients (prospective cohort - 126, retrospective cohort - 101) in whom NGS based tests were performed.

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Multicentric carpotarsal osteolysis syndrome (MCTO) is a rare autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia characterised by swelling and restriction of movement in the wrist and ankle joints, as well as osteolysis of the carpal and tarsal bones, that can be misdiagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We describe five Indian families with heterozygous nonrecurrent missense pathogenic variants in exon 1 of MAF bZIP transcription factor B (MAFB).

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Introduction: Rare diseases (RD) are a health priority worldwide, overall affecting hundreds of millions of people globally. Early and accurate diagnosis is essential to support clinical care but remains challenging in many countries, especially the low- and medium-income ones. Hence, undiagnosed RD (URD) account for a significant portion of the overall RD burden.

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Desbuquois dysplasia (DBQD) is an uncommon, autosomal recessive disorder with multiple joint dislocations. It is caused by pathogenic variants in CANT1 (calcium-activated nucleotidase 1) [NM_001159773.2].

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Hypomelanosis of Ito is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by presence of hypopigmented skin lesions arranged in whorls and streaks following the lines of Blaschko and are often accompanied by abnormalities of the central nervous system, skeletal system, eyes and teeth. Additional symptoms include deafness, hemihypertrophy, cardiac abnormalities, renal malformations, and abnormalities of the genitourinary tract.

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Objective: To define the spectrum of genetic disorders in patients with short stature visiting the genetic out-patient department in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A chart review was done for 455 individuals (10 months-16 yrs) with short stature, who were evaluated at the genetic clinic from 1 January, 2017 upto 31 October, 2018. 226 patients who needed detailed evaluation, the spectrum of genetic diagnosis is presented.

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MPS II is an X linked recessive lysosomal storage disorder with multi-system involvement and marked molecular heterogeneity. In this study, we explored the clinical and molecular spectrum of 144 Indian patients with MPS II from 130 unrelated families. Clinical information was collected on a predesigned clinical proforma.

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Genomics is an integral part of many pediatric diseases spanning all sub-specialities. While many genetic disorders are diagnosed with the currently available genomic tests, there still are many patients who do not receive a definitive diagnosis. The Indian Undiagnosed Diseases Program is a multicenter effort to address these challenges and unmet needs of rare disease patients where current available genetic tests have failed to make a diagnosis.

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To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we interviewed 26 patients with lysosomal storage disorders receiving enzyme replacement therapy. 20 (77 %) had significant interruption in their treatment, with an average of 8 (range 2-28) missed doses. Alternate methods of delivering uninterrupted care including home therapy were used.

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We evaluated the clinical histories, motor and pulmonary functions, cardiac phenotypes and GAA genotypes of an Indian cohort of twenty patients with late onset Pompe disease (LOPD) in this multi-centre study. A mean age at onset of symptoms and diagnosis of 9.9 ± 9.

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