J Korean Neurol Assoc.  2010 Feb;28(1):22-26.

Clinical Usefulness of Molecular Diagnosis in Dystrophin Gene Mutations Using the Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) Method

• Cho H
• Hong JM
• Lee KA
• Choi YC

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD), which is the most common X-linked muscular dystrophy, is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. These mutations comprise deletions in approximately 55~65% of patients, duplications in 5~10%, and point mutations or small insertion/deletions in the remainder. Unfortunately, current diagnostic assays for dystrophin do not accurately detect duplication mutations or female carriers. In this study we employed multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis to detect deletions or duplications of the dystrophin gene in patients with DMD/BMD, and in potential female carriers.
METHODS
A total of 41 subjects was recruited for this study, comprising 35 male DMD/BMD patients, 1 female patient with Turner syndrome, and 5 females with a family history of DMD/BMD. The MLPA method was employed to determine the copy number of each of the 79 exons of the dystrophin gene in the 41 subjects.
RESULTS
MLPA analysis for dystrophin was informative in 71.4% (25/35) of patients with DMD/BMD patients, identifying deletions in 60.0% (21/35) and duplications in 11.4% (4/35). MLPA analysis showed the presence of a deletion of the DMD gene in one female patient with Turner syndrome. Of the five female patients with a family history of DMD/BMD, this assay revealed exon deletion in one and duplications in one.
CONCLUSIONS
The reported findings reveal that the MLPA method is a powerful tool for detecting duplications and female carriers, as well as DMD gene deletions. MLPA should be considered the method of choice for an initial genetic analysis of DMD/BMD patients.

Keyword

Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD); Dystrophin gene; Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA)

MeSH Terms

Coat Protein Complex I
Dystrophin
Exons
Female
Gene Deletion
Humans
Male
Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
Muscular Dystrophies
Point Mutation
Turner Syndrome
Coat Protein Complex I
Dystrophin