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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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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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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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-017-3819-9