Genotype-phenotype correlation study and mutational and hormonal analysis in a Chinese cohort with 21-hydroxylase deficiency.

Background: Steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) is the most common enzymatic defect, but the genotype-phenotype associations have not been well established in Chinese patients. Here, a Chinese 21OHD cohort was enrolled to investigate the clinical, biochemical, and genetic characteristics of this disorder.

Methods: Mutation analysis of CYP21A2 gene, 21-hydroxylase activity assays and in silico predictions of protein structure were performed. Genotype-phenotype associations were analyzed in both the cohort and 487 Chinese CAH patients ever reported.

Results: Among the total cohort (72 patients), 47 patients (65.3%) were diagnosed as salt-wasting (SW) phenotype, 11 (15.3%) were simple virilizing (SV) type, and 14 (19.4%) were nonclassic (NC) type. The value of FSH and LH for prediction of the SW phenotype was up to 0.862 and 0.669, respectively. Overall, the detection rate of CYP21A2 mutation was 97.9%, which revealed 25 mutations and 36 genotypes. Four novel mutations (p.L199X, p.E321del, p.H393Q, and p.L459-P464del) were detected and induced a significantly reduced 21-hydroxylase activity. Generally, disease severity can be predicted with the genotypes. The most common genotypes in Chinese population were I2G/I2G (12.5%), I2G/Large lesion (12.1%), I173N/I2G (10.3%), and I173N/Large lesion (9.2%). The SW form of CAH is prominent in deletion or intronic splice mutations, namely I2G/I2G (18.6%), I2G/Large lesion (17.2%) and Large lesion/Large lesion (8.6%).

Conclusion: Four novel mutations were identified and a high consistency of genotype-phenotype association was found in SW CAH. Moreover, FSH and LH levels were proved to be a promising marker for predicting the severity of the disease.