Summary
While inherited X-linked (XL) isolated thrombocytopenia is a mild condition, the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) associates severe thrombocytopenia with an immunodeficiency component and has a poor prognosis. Whether these conditions correspond to separate genetic entities or to different mutations of the same gene(s) remains unresolved. The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome locus has been assigned to Xp 11.2 by means of RFLP studies. The X-inactivation pattern in female carriers has been found to follow a skewed pattern in the hematopoietic cells, thus allowing carrier detection. We studied a family with four members affected by XL thrombocytopenia and report the results of genetic segregation analysis, together with the X-inactivation pattern of hematopoietic cells from an obligate female carrier. Although the affected locus mapped to the same region as that of WAS, lymphocytes presented a skewed pattern of X-inactivation, whereas polymorphonuclear lymphocytes (PMN) did not. These results provide further evidence that the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and XL thrombocytopenia are different expressions of mutations within a single locus and that the severity of the disease corresponds to distinct hematopoietic cell selections in obligate carriers.
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This work was supported by grants from theInstitut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale and theCaisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés
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De Saint-Basile, G., Schlegel, N., Caniglia, M. et al. X-linked thrombocytopenia and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome: similar regional assignment but distinct X-inactivation pattern in carriers. Ann Hematol 63, 107–110 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01707282
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01707282