Novel mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene of Indian patients with Gaucher disease.

Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common glycolipid storage disorder resulting from glucocerebrosidase deficiency due to mutations in the GBA gene. Study was performed in 33 unrelated patients with low β-glucosidase activity in leukocytes and/or fibroblasts. The exons and exon-intron boundaries of the GBA gene were bidirectionally sequenced using an automated sequencer.

Chromosomal abnormalities in couples with repeated fetal loss: An Indian retrospective study.

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss is a common occurrence and a matter of concern for couples planning the pregnancy. Chromosomal abnormalities, mainly balanced rearrangements, are common in couples with repeated miscarriages.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of chromosomal anomalies causing repeated spontaneous miscarriages and provide detailed characterization of a few structurally altered chromosomes.

Burden of lysosomal storage disorders in India: experience of 387 affected children from a single diagnostic facility.

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are considered to be a rare metabolic disease for the national health forum, clinicians, and scientists. This study aimed to know the prevalence of different LSDs, their geographical variation, and burden on the society. It included 1,110 children from January 2002 to December 2012, having coarse facial features, hepatomegaly or hepatosplenomegaly, skeletal dysplasia, neuroregression, leukodystrophy, developmental delay, cerebral-cerebellar atrophy, and abnormal ophthalmic findings.

Chromosomal imbalance letter: Phenotypic consequences of combined deletion 8pter and duplication 15qter.

Exact breakpoint determination by oligonucleotide array-CGH has improved the analysis of genotype-phenotype correlations in cases with chromosome aberrations allowing a more accurate definition of relevant genes, particularly their isolated or combined impact on the phenotype in an unbalanced state. Chromosomal imbalances have been identified as one of the major causes of mental retardation and/or malformation syndromes and they are observed in ~2-5% of the cases. Here we report a female child born to non-consanguineous parents and having multiple congenital anomalies such as atrial septal defect and multiple ventricular septal defects, convergent strabismus, micropthalmia, seizures and mental retardation, with her head circumference and stature normal for her age.

Gain of chromosome 4qter and loss of 5pter: an unusual case with features of cri du chat syndrome.

Here, we present a case with an unusual chromosomal rearrangement in a child with a predominant phenotype of high-pitched crying showing deletion encompassing CTNND2 due to an unbalanced translocation of chromosomes 4 and 5. This rearrangement led to a duplication of ~35 Mb in 4qter which replaced 18 Mb genetic materials in 5pter. Even though, in this patient, there was no clinically obvious modification to the classical phenotypes of CdCS, and the influence of the 4q-duplication cannot be completely excluded in this case.

Genotype-Phenotype Characterization of Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome Confirmed by FISH: Case Reports.

The Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is a multiple malformation and contiguous gene syndrome resulting from the deletion encompassing a 4p16.3 region. A microscopically visible terminal deletion on chromosome 4p (4p16→pter) was detected in Case 1 with full blown features of WHS.

Diagnostic strategy for mucolipidosis II/III.

Overlapping clinical phenotypes are a diagnostic challenge to the clinician, especially in the cases of mucolipidosis (ML) and mucopolysaccharide disorders (MPS), due to overlapping phenotypes. Present study was carried out in 147 children suspected to have ML or MPS and 100 controls. They were screened for ML II/III by colorimetric method using substrate pNCS.