Mutation screening of the C1 inhibitor gene among Hungarian patients with hereditary angioedema

Hereditary angioneurotic edema (HAE) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by episodic local subcutaneous and submucosal edema caused by the deficiency of activated C1 esterase inhibitor protein (C1-INH, type I (C1NH): reduced serum antigen level, type II: reduced activity and normal serum antigen level). The aim of the present study was to determine the disease-causing mutations in the C1INH gene (SERPING1) among Hungarian HAE-patients. The estimated number of affected HAE-families in Hungary is 40-50, out of which 26 families (type I:23, type II:3) managed in a single center were enrolled in the current study. To detect large deletions/insertions, we used Southern-blotting analysis followed by real time PCR based gene dosage analysis. In the absence of large structural changes, we employed direct sequencing covering the whole coding region and splicing sites of the C1INH gene. Large deletions were detected in 4/23 (17.4%) type I families. We found the g.16788C>T (p.Arg444Cys) mutation in each 3, type II HAE-families. In the remaining type I families, 13 previously unreported mutations (g.638G>A, g.2238C>T, g.2534_2535delCT, g.2579_2620del42, g.2533G>A, g.2695G>A, g.2696_2697insT, g.4467C>T, g.14224A>T, g.14107delA, g.16749_;16775dup, g.16810T>A, g.16885C>G) were detected in 16 families affecting primarily exon 3 (6/13) of the C1INH gene. In the 3 remaining families, known mutations were identified affecting primarily exon 8 (2/3).

Genotype Screening for Hereditary Hemochromatosis among Voluntary Blood Donors in Hungary

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a common genetic disorder. Although it is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, heterozygous individuals are believed to be protected against iron deficiency. Screening to estimate the prevalence of HH was frequently performed among blood donors, not considering that carriers of the HH gene mutations may be present in higher proportion in this population. To examine the allele frequencies of the HH gene (HFE) point mutations, C282Y and H63D genotyping was carried out in 996 consecutive, first-time, and regular Hungarian blood donors by PCR-RFLP techniques. Iron parameters of the first-time donors and the identified C282Y heterozygotes and age, gender, and number of previous blood donation-matched wild-type donors were also determined. We were not able to demonstrate a significant increase in the frequency of C282Y and H63D alleles among regular blood donors, compared to first-time blood donors. However, there was a trend of higher C282Y allele frequency among women with higher number of previous blood donations (2.2 +/- 1.5% in female blood donors with 0-8 previous blood donations compared to 4.8 +/- 2.3% in women with more than 8 previous blood donations, P = 0.06). No detectable phenotypic differences were observed in serum iron, ferritin, and transferrin saturation values between C282Y wild-type and heterozygous groups. However, the single identified C282Y homozygous male (age 21) showed definite signs of iron overload. Our observations suggest that the protective effect of C282Y heterozygosity against iron deficiency may be less significant than other environmental (e.g., iron-rich diet) or genetic factors.