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High-Throughput Genetic Testing for Thrombotic Microangiopathies and C3 Glomerulopathies
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

High-Throughput Genetic Testing for Thrombotic Microangiopathies and C3 Glomerulopathies

Fengxiao Bu, Nicolo Ghiringhelli Borsa, Michael B Jones, Erika Takanami, Carla Nishimura, Jill J Hauer, Hela Azaiez, Elizabeth A Black-Ziegelbein, Nicole C Meyer, Diana L Kolbe, …
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Vol.27(4), pp.1245-1253
04/2016
DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2015040385
PMCID: PMC4814193
PMID: 26283675
url
https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2015040385View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) and C3 glomerulopathies (C3Gs) include a spectrum of rare diseases such as atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, C3GN, and dense deposit disease, which share phenotypic similarities and underlying genetic commonalities. Variants in several genes contribute to the pathogenesis of these diseases, and identification of these variants may inform the diagnosis and treatment of affected patients. We have developed and validated a comprehensive genetic panel that screens all exons of all genes implicated in TMA and C3G. The closely integrated pipeline implemented includes targeted genomic enrichment, massively parallel sequencing, bioinformatic analysis, and a multidisciplinary conference to analyze identified variants in the context of each patient's specific phenotype. Herein, we present our 1-year experience with this panel, during which time we studied 193 patients. We identified 17 novel and 74 rare variants, which we classified as pathogenic (11), likely pathogenic (12), and of uncertain significance (68). Compared with controls, patients with C3G had a higher frequency of rare and novel variants in C3 convertase (C3 and CFB) and complement regulator (CFH, CFI, CFHR5, and CD46) genes (P<0.05). In contrast, patients with TMA had an increase in rare and novel variants only in complement regulator genes (P<0.01), a distinction consistent with differing sites of complement dysregulation in these two diseases. In summary, we were able to provide a positive genetic diagnosis in 43% and 41% of patients carrying the clinical diagnosis of C3G and TMA, respectively.
Complement C3 Humans Kidney Diseases - diagnosis Child, Preschool Male Genetic Testing - methods Kidney Diseases - genetics Thrombotic Microangiopathies - genetics Kidney Diseases - immunology Adolescent Female Thrombotic Microangiopathies - diagnosis Child Kidney Glomerulus

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