Heterozygous p.Asp50Asn mutation in the GJB2 gene in two Cameroonian patients with keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness (KID) syndrome (OMIM 148210) is a congenital ectodermal defect that consists of an atypical ichthyosiform erythroderma associated with congenital sensorineural deafness. KID appears to be genetically heterogeneous and most cases are caused by GJB2 mutations. Mutations in African patients have been rarely described.


METHODS
We report on two unrelated Cameroonian individuals affected with sporadic KID, presenting with the classic phenotypic triad. The two patients were heterozygous for the most frequent p.Asp50Asn mutation. This first report in patients from sub-Saharan African origin supports the hypothesis that the occurrence of KID due to p.Asp50Asn mutation in GJB2 seems not to be population specific.


CONCLUSIONS
Our finding has implication in medical genetic practice, specifically in the molecular diagnosis of KID in Africans. These cases also reveal and emphasize the urgent need to develop appropriate policies to care for patients with rare/orphan diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, as many of these cases become more and more recognizable.
Division of Human Genetics, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. ambroise.wonkam@uct.ac.za
Ambroise
A
Wonkam
Jean Jacques N
JJ
Noubiap
Jason
J
Bosch
Collet
C
Dandara
Geneviève Bengono
GB
Toure
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D002163:Cameroon; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000072259:Connexin 26; D017630:Connexins / Q000235:genetics*; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016113:Ichthyosiform Erythroderma, Congenital / Q000235:genetics; D007057:Ichthyosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D007634:Keratitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation
D017630:Connexins; C000607042:GJB2 protein, human; D000072259:Connexin 26