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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Newborn screening in North Ossetia in 2023–2024
1 Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russia
2 North-Ossetian State Medical Academy, Vladikavkaz, Russia
3 Republican Children’s Clinical Hospital, Vladikavkaz, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Rena A. Zinchenko
Moskvorechie, 1, 115522, Moscow, Russia; ur.liam@oknehcnizaner
Funding: the study was funded by the federal and regional budgets in terms of implementing expanded newborn screening and supported as part of the State Assignment of the Research Centre for Medical Genetics and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania.
Author contribution: Tebieva IS, Gabisova YuV, Khokhova AV — data acquisition, establishing the diagnosis; Zinchenko RA, Tebieva IS — study planning, manuscript writing; Zakharova EYu, Shchagina OA, Lotnik EE, Bakin NV, Marakhonov AV — molecular genetic testing; Zinchenko RA, Tebieva IS, Zakharova EYu — manuscript editing.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Research Centre for Medical Genetics (protocol No. 7 dated 20 December 2017), it was compliant with the standards of Good Clinical Practice and evidence-based medicine. All patients submitted informed consent to participate in the study.
Mass screening of newborns for 36 hereditary diseases in the Russian Federation will enable the reduction of childhood disability and mortality from hereditary disorders, as well as the identification of all-Russian and regional population-genetic features of the screened disorders. The study aimed to assess the results of newborn screening (NBS), including expanded newborn screening (ENBS), in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania obtained between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024, as well as to study clinical and population-genetic characteristics of the diseases screened in the region. In phase I of assessment, biochemical testing, tandem mass spectrometry, and DNA diagnostics were performed, and the TREС/KREС levels were determined in 14,994 newborns. In 355 cases (2.36%), positive values were revealed. In phase II, the necessary laboratory and subsequent confirmatory DNA diagnostics were carried out in 324 cases (91.2%): repeated analysis by MS/MS and DNA diagnostics (for hereditary metabolic diseases), immunophenotyping (for primary immunodeficiency states). During the 2-year study, a total of 37 diagnoses were established, which accounted for 0.25% of all children screened in phase I and clearly indicated the program's success and effectiveness. We managed to verify the specific spectrum of mutations characteristic of phenylketonuria (PKU) and medium-chain fatty acid acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD). The frequency of the disorder assessed within the framework of newborn screening was determined. The frequency of all PKU forms was 1 : 1153 newborns, and the frequency of MCADD was 1 : 789 newborns surveyed. All children are listed as sick in the medical genetic consultation of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania; they receive treatment in accordance with the clinical guidelines.
Keywords: phenylketonuria, newborn screening, expanded newborn screening, hereditary pathology, medium-chain fatty acid acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency