Connexin 26 (GJB2) Mutations Associated with Non-Syndromic Hearing Loss (NSHL).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and spectrum of Connexin 26 (GJB2) mutations in pre-lingual non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL) patients in authors' centre and to review the data of Indian patients from the literature.

METHODS: Sanger sequencing of entire coding region contained in single exon (Exon 2) of GJB2 gene in 15 patients of NSHL.

RESULTS: GJB2 mutations were found in 40% (6/15) of NSHL patients, out of which mono-allelic were 33.3% (2/6). Bi-allelic GJB2 mutations were identified in 4 of 6 patients. Most common GJB2 mutation identified was c.71G > A(p.W24X), comprising 30% of the total GJB2 mutant alleles. Six studies involving 1119 patients with NSHL were reviewed and 4 of them have reported c.71G > A(p.W24X) as the commonest mutation while 2 studies found c.35delG as the commonest. GJB2 mutations accounted for 10.9%-36% cases of NSHL. Sixteen other mutations in GJB2 gene were reported in Indian patients out of which 6 mutations other than c.71G > A(p.W24X) viz., c.35delG, c.1A > G(p.M1V), c.127G > A(p.V43 M), c.204C > G(p.Y86X), c.231G > A(p.W77X) and c.439G > A(p.E147K) were identified in the present study.

CONCLUSIONS: Connexin 26 (GJB2) mutations are responsible for 19.4% of NSHL in Indian population. The c.71G > A(W24X) and c.35delG were the most prevalent GJB2 mutations accounting for 72.2% (234 of 324 total mutated alleles from 7 studies) and 15.4% (50 of 324 total mutated alleles from 7 studies) respectively. Thus, screening of these two common mutations in GJB2 gene by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) would greatly help in providing easy genetic diagnosis and help in genetic counseling of the families with NSHL.