Mutation spectrum and hotspots of the common deafness genes in 314 patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss in Heze area, China.

: Although, half of the childhood deafness is genetically related, the molecular etiology of hearing impairment has not been demonstrated explicitly. In addition, the mutation spectrums of deafness genes vary among different areas and ethnics. : To know more about the mutation spectrums of deafness genes in China, we tested the mutations of three common deafness genes (, , and ) in a particular deafness population from Heze area. SNPscan technology was utilized to perform mutation screening for these three common deafness genes in 314 nonsyndromic deaf patients from Heze area. 38.21% (120/314) of these 314 patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss from Heze area were related to the genetic defects in these three deafness genes, including 20.06% (63/314) for , 15.29% (48/314) for and 2.87% (9/314) for . Furthermore, the mutation hotspots in three deaf genes were 235delC, c.919-2A > G, and 1555A > G, respectively, distinct from hotspots reported in other regions worldwide. Our results disclosed a special and unique mutation spectrum of these three common deaf genes in Heze deaf population.