SCREENING FOR GENETIC CHANGES AND CODON 129 POLYMORPHISM IN PRNP GENE IN HEALTHY SLOVENIAN POPULATION AND SPORADIC CASES OF CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE
2004
Background. Prion protein has an important role in development of prion diseases, fatal neurodegenerative disorders. As the codon 129 genotype of the prion protein gene (PRNP) is a known susceptibility factor for the diseases, we wanted to determine its distribution in healthy Slovenian population and also in cases of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Furthermore, we wanted to screen the whole gene in order to establish the presence of genetic changes. Methods. We screened 350 DNA samples of healthy blood donors and 12 DNA samples of patients deceased of sCJD. After the amplification and conformation analysis had been done, the gene was sequenced using an automatic sequencer. Results. Methionine homozygotes comprised 46.8% of healthy population, valine homozygotes 12.1% and heterozygotes 41.1%; out of 12 sCJD patients 10 were methionine homozygotes (83.3%), 1 was valine homozygote (8.3%) and 1 was heterozygote (8.3%). Found SNPs were combination of codon 76 change (228C > T) and codon 84 change (252T > C) in a single sample of healthy population, combination of codon 68 change (204T > C) and codon 76 change (228C > T) in two samples of healthy population and codon 117 change (351A > G) in a healthy population sample and in a valine homozygote patient. Conclusions. In comparison to the pooled Caucasian population is genotype M/M frequency slightly increased on account of decreased genotype M/V frequency in healthy Slovenian population, suggesting a little higher risk for acquiring a new variant of CJD (vCJD), because up to date all confirmed vCJD cases except one heterozygote were methionine homozygotes. Codon 129 genotype distribution in sCJD can be described as disease-specific. The absence of pathogenic mutations in sCJD patients confirms the non-familial, sporadic disease form.
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