Mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene in Parkinson's disease among Indians.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of G88C, G209A and any other mutation(s) in exons 3 and 4 of the alpha-synuclein gene in Indian patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).


METHODS
A total of 169 PD patients comprising 18 familial, 3 juvenile, 48 early onset and 100 sporadic cases were included in this study. Genomic DNA was amplified by PCR using primers specific for Exons 3 and 4. Mutations at G88C and G209A were screened following restriction enzyme digestion of the PCR product. Direct PCR product sequencing of entire exons 3 and 4 was carried out for at least one proband each from the 10 familial cases.


RESULTS
Neither G88C and G209A mutations nor any other mutation in exons 3 and 4 was found in the PD patients analysed.


CONCLUSIONS
The G88C and G209A mutations do not seem to be the predominant genetic determinant of PD among Indians.
Department of Genetics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
S
S
Nagar
R C
RC
Juyal
S
S
Chaudhary
M
M
Behari
M
M
Gupta
S N
SN
Rao
B K
BK
Thelma
D000328:Adult; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017354:Point Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
D017931:DNA Primers; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein