Intestinal polyposis syndromes include a group of diseases conditioned by the occurrence of hereditary mutations. The current paper presents a collection of DNA samples derived from persons from families with a diagnosed adenomatous polyposes which comprise: familial polyposis coli together with its recessive form, Turcot's syndrome, inherited mixed polyposis as well as persons with recognised hamartomatous polyposes: juvenile polyposis, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Cowden syndrome and Proteus syndrome.The aim of the study was to present current achievements associated with the establishment of the DNA Bank for intestinal polyposis.Material and methods. Investigations were conducted on DNA isolated from cells of the peripheral blood. The search for mutations in APC, MUTYH, PTEN, BMPR1A, SMAD4 and STK11 genes preconditioning the occurrence of individual diseases was performed employing PCR-SSCP, PCR-HD, DHPLC as well as RFLP techniques and DNA sequencing.Results. At the present time, the DNA Bank comprises the total of 1097 DNA samples derived from 449 families with intestinal polyposis of which 945 samples come from persons in whose families Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) occurred. In addition, the collected data also contain material for analyses derived from 25 families with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome and 20 families with juvenile polyposis as well as single cases with the Cowden syndrome, Proteus syndrome and desmoid tumors. The performed molecular investigations allowed identification of mutations ranging from 44 to 50%.Conclusions. With regard to the quantity of the material collected for analyses and the efficacy level of the employed molecular methods, the obtained results are in keeping with the results found in the literature from the field of genetics and medicine and do not differ from world standards. The collection of data and materials for investigations in the case of rare diseases allows qualitative, organisational and economic optimisation of the performed investigations.
Background: The coexistence of cystic fibrosis (CF) and celiac disease (CD) has been reported. To our knowledge there is no study directly comparing the incidence of CD in CF patients to that in the general population at the same time. There is no published data on genetic predisposition to CD in CF patients either. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to assess the genetic predisposition to CD and its incidence in CF patients comparing it to data from the general population. Patients and methods: Two hundred eighty-two CF patients were enrolled in the study. In 230 CF patients the genetic predisposition to CD (the presence of HLA-DQ2/ DQ8) was assessed. In all CF patients, serological screening for CD was conducted. In patients with positive antiendomysial antibodies (EMA) gastroduenoscopy was offered. Intestinal histology was classified according to modified Marsh criteria. The results of serological CD screening in 3235 Polish schoolchildren and HLA-DQ typing in 200 healthy subjects (HS) were used for comparison. Results: Positive EMA was found in 2.84% of the studied CF patients. The incidence of proven CD was 2.13%. The incidence of CD as well as positive serological screening were significantly more frequent in the CF group than in the general population. The frequency of CD-related HLA-DQ alleles in CF and HS did not differ. Conclusions: Genetic predisposition to celiac disease in cystic fibrosis patients is similar to that of the general population. However, our results suggest that cystic fibrosis is a risk factor for celiac disease development.
Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) has been recently approved as a treatment of patients with phenylketonuria. However, as a confirmation of BH4-responsiveness, it might require a very expensive trial treatment with BH4 or prolonged BH4-loading procedures. The selection of patients eligible for BH4-therapy by means of genotyping of the PAH gene mutations may be recommended as a complementary approach. A population-wide genotyping study was carried out in 1286 Polish phenyloketonuria-patients. The aim was to estimate the BH4 demand and to cover prospectively the treatment by a National Health Fund. A total of 95 types of mutations were identified. Genetic variants corresponding with probable BH4-responsiveness were found in 28.2% of cases. However, patients with mild or classical phenylketonuria who require continuous treatment accounted for 11.4% of the studied population only. Analysis of the published data shows similar percentage of the "BH4-responsive" variants of a PAH gene in patients from other countries of Eastern Europe. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the proportion of phenylketonuria-patients who could benefit from the use of BH4 reaches approximately 10% in the entire region.
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