Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-2-22
pubmed:abstractText
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a major cause of inherited blindness in young males. Approximately 1 in 7 individuals with LHON harbor a mixture of mutated and wild-type (normal) mtDNA (heteroplasmy), and the risks of developing blindness in heteroplasmic LHON individuals are not well characterized. MtDNA is inherited exclusively down the maternal line, and although the risks of a relative within a homoplasmic LHON pedigree are relatively well established, the risks of transmission in heteroplasmic LHON pedigrees have not been studied in detail. We analyzed 17 independent pedigrees that harbor the most prevalent LHON mutation: G11778A. The pedigrees were influenced by incomplete ascertainment bias, which was reduced by omitting the affected probands from the analysis. We made the following observations: (1) The frequency of blindness in males was related to the mutation load in that individual's blood. (2) Mothers with < or = 80% mutant mtDNA in blood were less likely to have clinically affected sons than mothers with 100% mutant mtDNA in their blood. (3) Within individual lineages, changes in mutation load from one generation to the next were largely determined by random genetic drift in these pedigrees. This study provides insights into the mutation load, or threshold, necessary for expression of the optic neuropathy, the relationship between mutation load in the mother and the risk of blindness in her children, and the complex inheritance of heteroplasmic mtDNA defects.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
0148-7299
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
22
pubmed:volume
98
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
235-43
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy: Does heteroplasmy influence the inheritance and expression of the G11778A mitochondrial DNA mutation?
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Neurology, The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. P.F.Chinnery@ncl.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't