News Release

Genetic diagnosis can rule out a suspected Huntington's chorea patient

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Neural Regeneration Research

Sequencing Analysis

image: This sequencing analysis identified a total of 49 CAG repeats in the IT15 gene from the proband. view more 

Credit: <I>Neural Regeneration Research</I>

Huntington's disease is an autosomal-dominant inherited neurodegenerative disease with a distinct phenotype, but the pathogenesis is unclear. Although patients with a family history have more typical clinical symptoms, signs, and pathological changes, as well as an unambiguous clinical diagnosis, other diseases with dance-like movements, e.g., dentatorubral-pallidoluy-sian atrophy, spinocerebellar ataxia type 17, Huntington's disease-like-2, and neuroferritinopathy, are difficult to identify and distinguish from Huntington's disease. By mutation screening for CAG repeats in the Huntington's disease-associated candidate gene, IT15, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, T-A cloning, and sequencing, Dr. Mingxia Yu and coworkers from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in China provide a global analysis incorporating clinical symptoms, imaging examinations, and gene diagnosis, of Huntington's disease. Their findings, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 4, 2014), suggest that clinical diagnosis of Huntington's disease requires a combination of clinical symptoms, radiological changes, and genetic diagnosis.

###

Article: " Examination of Huntington's disease in a Chinese family," by Mingxia Yu, Xiaogai Li, Sanyun Wu, Ji Shen, Jiancheng Tu (Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine & Center for Gene Diagnosis, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China) Yu MX, Li XG, Wu SY, Shen J, Tu JC. Examination of Huntington's disease in a Chinese family. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(4):440-446.

Contact:

Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.