Cataract as a phenotypic marker for a mutation in WFS1, the Wolfram syndrome gene.

Purpose: Wolfram syndrome (WS) or diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and deafness (DIDMOAD) (OMIM 222300) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy as the 2 major criteria, followed later in life by deafness, diabetes insipidus, and various signs of neurologic impairment. The presence of a cataract has been variably mentioned in WS.

Method: Two members of a family had thorough ophthalmic examination and their DNA was screened for mutations in mitochondrial DNA, WFS1, OPA1, and OPA3 genes.

Results: We report a patient who first had surgery for bilateral cataract at age 5 and who subsequently presented typical signs of WS, i.e., diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy with reduced visual acuity at 20/400 on both eyes at age 22, and mild deafness. The patient was found to be a compound heterozygote for 2 truncating mutations in WFS1, the major WS gene. She carried the previously reported c.1231_1233 delCT and a novel c.2431_2465dup35 mutation. She also was heterozygote for a novel OPA1 sequence variant, c.929A>G in exon 9, whose pathogenicity remains uncertain. The patient's mother was a heterozygous carrier of the c.2431_2465dup35 mutation. She did not have diabetes mellitus or optic atrophy but had bilateral polar cataract. She did not carry the OPA1 sequence variant.

Conclusions: Cataract could be a marker for the WFS1 heterozygosity in this family, namely the c.2431_2465dup35 mutation.