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Ul Mudassir B, Agha Z. Novel and known minor alleles of CNTNAP2 gene variants are associated with comorbidity of intellectual disability and epilepsy phenotypes: a case-control association study reveals potential biomarkers. Mol Biol Rep 2024; 51:276. [PMID: 38315301 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-09176-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neurodevelopmental disorders are heterogeneous due to underlying multiple shared genetic pathways and risk factors. Intellectual disability, epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder phenotypes overlap which indicates the diverse effects of common genes. Recent studies suggested the probable contribution of CNTNAP2 gene polymorphisms to the comorbidity of these neurological conditions. METHODS AND RESULTS This study was conducted to investigate the role of CNTNAP2 polymorphisms rs147815978 (G>T) and rs2710102 (A>G) as a risk factor for comorbidity of intellectual disability and epilepsy in a group of 345 individuals including 170 patients and 175 healthy controls recruited from various ethnic groups of Pakistani population. Our case-control study group was genotyped by tetra primer ARMS-PCR technique and results were analysed to know the effects of CNTNAP2 rs147815978 (G>T) and rs2710102 (A>G) polymorphisms in the group. The frequency of risk allele T (rs147815978) and risk allele G (rs2710102) for homozygous recessive genotypes (TT/GG) in our study group was 36.47% while odds ratios for risk allele T (rs147815978) was 5.45 (3.90-7.61: 95% CI, P = 0.000) and that for risk allele G (rs2710102) was 2.39 (1.76-3.24: 95% CI, P = 0.0001). Homozygous recessive genotypes (TT/GG) appeared only in cases and not in control group which indicated these as suspected risk genotypes and the significant association (p < 0.05%) of CNTNAP2 gene polymorphisms rs147815978 (G>T) and rs2710102 (A>G) with co-occurrence of intellectual disability and epilepsy phenotypes in our study group which is in HWE (χ2 = 174, P < 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis shows additive (p < 0.0001) and multiplicative (p < 0.001) models which confirms significant association of both the polymorphisms in our data, which are closely located on same haplotype (D' = - 0.168). CONCLUSIONS We propose that CNTNAP2 rs147815978 (G>T) and rs2710102 (A>G) polymorphisms are possible risk loci for overlapping neurodevelopmental disorders in Pakistani population. We propose the role of a previously reported common SNP rs2710102 (A>G) with a rarely reported novel SNP rs147815978 (G>T) for CNTNAP2 gene association with neurodevelopmental disorders in our data. Our study has expanded the knowledge of CNTNAP2 gene polymorphisms as probable biomarkers for susceptibility of co-occurrence of intellectual disability and epilepsy phenotypes in Pakistani population. We hope that our study will open new horizons of CNTNAP2 gene variants research to cure the neurological conditions in Pakistani population where consanguinity is a tradition and prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders has increased from 1 to 2% during last 5 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behjat Ul Mudassir
- Translational Genomics Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Zehra Agha
- Translational Genomics Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
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Pellinen J, Pardoe H, Sillau S, Barnard S, French J, Knowlton R, Lowenstein D, Cascino GD, Glynn S, Jackson G, Szaflarski J, Morrison C, Meador KJ, Kuzniecky R. Later onset focal epilepsy with roots in childhood: Evidence from early learning difficulty and brain volumes in the Human Epilepsy Project. Epilepsia 2023; 64:2761-2770. [PMID: 37517050 DOI: 10.1111/epi.17727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Visual assessment of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from the Human Epilepsy Project 1 (HEP1) found 18% of participants had atrophic brain changes relative to age without known etiology. Here, we identify the underlying factors related to brain volume differences in people with focal epilepsy enrolled in HEP1. METHODS Enrollment data for participants with complete records and brain MRIs were analyzed, including 391 participants aged 12-60 years. HEP1 excluded developmental or cognitive delay with intelligence quotient <70, and participants reported any formal learning disability diagnoses, repeated grades, and remediation. Prediagnostic seizures were quantified by semiology, frequency, and duration. T1-weighted brain MRIs were analyzed using Sequence Adaptive Multimodal Segmentation (FreeSurfer v7.2), from which a brain tissue volume to intracranial volume ratio was derived and compared to clinically relevant participant characteristics. RESULTS Brain tissue volume changes observable on visual analyses were quantified, and a brain tissue volume to intracranial volume ratio was derived to compare with clinically relevant variables. Learning difficulties were associated with decreased brain tissue volume to intracranial volume, with a ratio reduction of .005 for each learning difficulty reported (95% confidence interval [CI] = -.007 to -.002, p = .0003). Each 10-year increase in age at MRI was associated with a ratio reduction of .006 (95% CI = -.007 to -.005, p < .0001). For male participants, the ratio was .011 less than for female participants (95% CI = -.014 to -.007, p < .0001). There were no effects from seizures, employment, education, seizure semiology, or temporal lobe electroencephalographic abnormalities. SIGNIFICANCE This study shows lower brain tissue volume to intracranial volume in people with newly treated focal epilepsy and learning difficulties, suggesting developmental factors are an important marker of brain pathology related to neuroanatomical changes in focal epilepsy. Like the general population, there were also independent associations between brain volume, age, and sex in the study population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Pellinen
- University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Heath Pardoe
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Stefan Sillau
- University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | | | - Jacqueline French
- New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Robert Knowlton
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Daniel Lowenstein
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | - Simon Glynn
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Graeme Jackson
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Chris Morrison
- New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kimford J Meador
- Stanford University Neuroscience Health Center, Palo Alto, California, USA
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