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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
NGS technology as a tool for the Wilson’s disease diagnosis and severity assessment
1 Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia
2 Petrovsky Russian Scientific Center for Surgery, Moscow, Russia
3 Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Laboratory Research, Moscow, Russia
4 Ott Research Institute of Obstetrcis, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, St. Petersburg, Russia
5 Federal Scientific and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the Federal Medical Biological Agency, St. Petersburg, Russia
6 State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation — Federal Medical Biophysical Center named after A. I. Burnazyan, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Inna G. Tuluzanovskaya
Yelansky, 2, bld. 2, 119435, Moscow, Russia; ur.liam@77t_anni
Author contribution: Balashova MS — follow-up of patients, NGS data analysis, manuscript writing; Zhuchenko NA — literature review and analysis, manuscript writing; Tuluzanovskaya IG — follow-up of patients, literature analysis and processing, manuscript writing; Glotov OS — molecular genetic testing data preparation, manuscript editing; Senina OS — data entry, manuscript writing; Ignatova TM — literature analysis, manuscript editing; Asanov AYu — literature analysis, manuscript writing and editing.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Sechenov University (protocol No. 07-23 dated 27 April 2023). All subjects or their legall representatives submitted the informed consent for participation in the study.
For several decades, Wilson’s disease (WD) has remained the focus of attention for a wide range of specialists, including hepatologists, general practitioners, neurologists, geneticists, etc. However, despite significant advances in understanding its molecular basis, establishing clear correlations between the genotype and clinical phenotype of the disease remains a key unresolved issue. The study aimed to identify patterns between genetic variants in the ATP7B gene and the WD clinical manifestations using next-generation sequencing. The data from 81 WD patients, who were followed up between 2015 and 2019, were used in the study. Molecular genetic testing of biomaterial (blood) samples was performed by NGS. The analysis of the molecular genetic testing results using targeted NGS revealed 31 pathogenic variants. The following variants were the most frequent: c.3207C>A (p.His1069Gln) — 51.85% alleles, c.3190G>A (p.Glu1064Lys) — 8.64% alleles, and c.3402delC (p.Ala1135fs) — 6.17% alleles. A moderate correlation between genotype and phenotype was established: pathogenic variants (nonsense, frameshift, splicing) in the homo- or compound heterozygous state are associated with severe liver damage, severe degree of cirrhosis, and lower cholinesterase levels. The data obtained emphasize the importance of molecular genetic diagnosis for clarifying the diagnosis of WD and predicting the disease severity.
Keywords: next-generation sequencing, Wilson’s disease, ATP7B gene, genotype-phenotype correlation