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Molecular genetic analysis of 1053 Danish individuals with clinical signs of familial hypercholesterolemia
Author(s) -
Brusgaard K,
Jordan P,
Hansen H,
Hansen AB,
Hørder M
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
clinical genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1399-0004
pISSN - 0009-9163
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-0004.2006.00585.x
Subject(s) - familial hypercholesterolemia , genetics , disease , population , mutation , danish , medicine , genetic testing , biology , gene , environmental health , cholesterol , linguistics , philosophy
The lipid disorder familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) predisposes to cardiovascular disease. With a prevalence of approximately one in 500 in the general Caucasian population, FH is one of the most frequent single‐gene disorders. As the mutational spectra vary between populations, it is crucial to identify the mutations in a given population in order to implement a molecular genetic screening strategy. A total of 1053 referred individuals with clinical signs of FH were investigated, and mutations were identified in 425 individuals. Fifty‐four different mutations were identified, of which 13 are novel. The five most frequent mutations accounted for 56.3% of all disease‐causing mutations. The majority of the remaining mutations were of a private nature only encountered in single families. In this study, a reliable molecular genetic screening protocol was established, and the relevance of performing presymptomatic genetic analysis as part of a preventive strategy was documented. We have acquired knowledge of the mutational spectra in the Danish population and thus will be able to trace mutations in their relatives through our index cases.