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Clinical and genetic heterogeneity in familial steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome

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Abstract

Background

Familial steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) is a rare condition. The disease pathophysiology remains elusive. However, bi-allelic mutations in the EMP2 gene were identified, and specific variations in HLA-DQA1 were linked to a high risk of developing the disease.

Methods

Clinical data were analyzed in 59 SSNS families. EMP2 gene was sequenced in families with a potential autosomal recessive (AR) inheritance. Exome sequencing was performed in a subset of 13 families with potential AR inheritance. Two variations in HLA-DQA1 were genotyped in the whole cohort.

Results

Transmission was compatible with an AR (n = 33) or autosomal dominant (AD, n = 26) inheritance, assuming that familial SSNS is a monogenic trait. Clinical features did not differ between AR and AD groups. All patients, including primary (n = 7) and secondary steroid resistant nephrotic syndrone (SRNS), (n = 13) were sensitive to additional immunosuppressive therapy. Both HLA-DQA1 variations were found to be highly linked to the disease (OR = 4.34 and OR = 4.89; p < 0.001). Exome sequencing did not reveal any pathogenic mutation, neither did EMP2 sequencing.

Conclusions

Taken together, these results highlight the clinical and genetic heterogeneity in familial SSNS. Clinical findings sustain an immune origin in all patients, whatever the initial steroid-sensitivity. The absence of a variant shared by two families and the HLA-DQA1 variation enrichments suggest a complex mode of inheritance.

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Abbreviations

AR:

Autosomal recessive

AD:

Autosomal dominant

EMP2:

Epithelial member protein 2

FR:

Frequent relapsers

FSGS:

Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis

OR:

Odds ratio

SRNS:

Steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome

SSNS:

Steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome

WES:

Whole exome sequencing

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Acknowledgements

We thank all patients with familial SSNS and their families for their participation in this study. We thank Dr Kalmàn Tory for helpful discussions.

Web resources

The URLs for data presented herein are as follows:

dBSNP: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SNP/

1000genomes project: http://www.internationalgenome.org

PolyPhen: http://genetics.bwh.harvard.edu

SIFT http://sift.jcvi.org

Mutation Taster http://www.mutationtaster.org

ExaC: http://exac.broadinstitute.org

ProteinAtlas: http://www.proteinatlas.org

GeneMatcher: https://genematcher.org

Funding

Financial support for this work was provided by grants from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013/n°305608-EURenOmics), the “Investments for the Future” program (ANR-10-IAHU-01), and the “Fondation-maladies rares” (FONDATION_HTS-RD – I201309001) to C. Antignac, and The «Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale» (FRM n° DEA20130727711) to G. Dorval.

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Correspondence to Guillaume Dorval.

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Written informed consent was obtained from participants or their parents, and the study was approved by the Comité de Protection des Personnes “Ile-De-France II.”

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The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

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Dorval, G., Gribouval, O., Martinez-Barquero, V. et al. Clinical and genetic heterogeneity in familial steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome. Pediatr Nephrol 33, 473–483 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-017-3819-9

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