Identification of novel mutations of the WFS1 gene in Brazilian patients with Wolfram syndrome.

Objective: Wolfram syndrome (WS) is a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. The gene for WS, WFS1, was identified on chromosome 4p16 and most WS patients carry mutations in this gene. However, some studies have provided evidence for genetic heterogeneity and the genotype-phenotype relationships are not clear.