微阵列比较基因组杂交技术对不明原因智力低下/生长发育迟缓患儿的分子诊断

目的　分析不明原因智力低下(ID)和(或)生长发育迟缓(DD)患儿潜在的致病性基因组不平衡, 及其与表型的相关性, 探讨高密度微阵列比较基因组杂交技术(array-CGH)在临床分子遗传学诊断中的应用价值。方法　采用array-CGH技术对16例ID/DD患儿进行全基因组扫描分析, 并用多重连接探针扩增技术(MLPA)对检出的基因组不平衡异位进行验证。结果　16例患儿高分辨G显带核型分析均无异常。6例(38%)患儿存在基因拷贝数异常(CNVs), 其中3例CNVs为正常多态性改变; 1例CNVs涉及4p16.3区域微缺失, 考虑为Wolf-Hirschhorn综合征; 1例CNVs涉及7q11.23区域微缺失, 考虑为Williams-Beuren 综合征; 另1例CNVs临床意义不明确, 包含2个重复突变, 该突变与智力低下、脑发育迟缓、特殊面容、隐睾、牙列不齐等有关, 证实该CNVs具有临床意义。结论 通过array-CGH技术对不明原因ID/DD患儿进行全基因组扫描, 可为部分患儿明确病因诊断。该技术作为一种高通量、快速的疾病研究手段, 在ID/DD的病因诊断中具有重要的临床意义。

Molecular diagnosis of children with unexplained intellectual disability/ developmental delay by array-CGH

Objective To analyze the potential pathogenic genomic imbalance in children with unexplained intellectual disability (ID) and/or developmental delay (DD) and its association with phenotypes, and to investigate the value of array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) in clinical molecular genetic diagnosis.Methods The whole genome of 16 children with ID/DD was scanned by the array-CGH for detection of genomic copy number variations (CNVs), and the revealed genomic imbalance was confirmed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. Results G-band karyotyping of peripheral blood cells showed no abnormalities in the 16 children. The results of the array-CGH revealed that 6 (38%) of the 16 patients had genomic CNVs, and 3 cases of CNVs were normal polymorphic changes; 1 CNV was a microdeletion of 4p16.3, which was the critical region for Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, and 1 CNV was a microdeletion of 7q11.23, which was the critical region for Williams-Beuren syndrome. Moreover, a CNV was identified with two duplications at 2q22.2 and 15q21.3 in a boy, which proved to have a clinical significance due to its association with ID, brain DD, unusual facies, cryptorchidism, irregular dentition, etc. Conclusions Array-CGH allows for the etiological diagnosis in some of the children with unexplained ID/DD. As a high-throughput and rapid tool, it has a great clinical significance in the etiological diagnosis of ID/DD.