A successful strategy for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis of beta-thalassemia and simultaneous detection of Down's syndrome using multiplex fluorescent PCR.
OBJECTIVE
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is an alternative to prenatal diagnosis providing couples the chance to start a pregnancy with an unaffected fetus. The objective of the present study was to develop and apply quick, sensitive and accurate single cell PCR protocols for PGD of beta-thalassemia and Down's syndrome detection.


METHODS
Two couples carrying beta-thalassemia codon41-42 mutation underwent routine IVF procedures. Embryo biopsy was performed on Day-3 post-fertilisation and single cell multiplex fluorescent PCR was employed for mutation analysis, contamination detection and diagnosis of trisomy 21 cases.


RESULTS
Seventeen embryos were tested in two clinical PGD cycles. This resulted in the first birth following PGD for a single gene disorder in Thailand and South East Asia, confirmed by prenatal testing. Two embryos were shown to be affected by Down's syndrome.


CONCLUSIONS
Successful strategy for PGD of beta-thalassemia and Down's syndrome detection using multiplex fluorescent PCR was introduced.
Piyamongkol
Wirawit
W
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. wpiyamon@mail.med.cmu.ac.th
Vutyavanich
Teraporn
T
Piyamongkol
Sirivipa
S
Wells
Dagan
D
Kunaviktikul
Chairat
C
Tongsong
Theera
T
Chaovisitsaree
Somsak
S
Saetung
Rattika
R
Sanguansermsri
Torpong
T
D000328:Adult; D003062:Codon; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics
D003062:Codon