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Biomedical subjects

Elaine Maria Frade Costa

Publications and source records attributed to Elaine Maria Frade Costa.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Molecular analysis of the neuropeptide Y1 receptor gene in human idiopathic gonadotropin-dependent precocious puberty and isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of mutations or polymorphisms in the NPY-Y1R gene in human idiopathic central pubertal disorders. DESIGN: Molecular studies. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENT(S): Thirty-three patients with gonadotropin-dependent precocious puberty, 22 with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, and 50 controls. INTERVENTION(S): Genomic DNA extraction, NPY-Y1R gene sequence analysis, cell-surface expression, and functional activity of an identified receptor variant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Results of sequencing, cell-surface receptor expression, and receptor function. RESULT(S): A heterozygous substitution of lysine (K) by threonine (T) at position 374 in the carboxyl terminal region of NPY-Y1R was identified in a girl with familial GDPP. Her mother, who had pubertal developmental at appropriate age, carried the same genetic variant. Introduction of the K374T variant into an expression vector containing the human NPY-Y1R complementary DNA led to a partial reduction in cell-surface expression of NPY-Y1R in transiently transfected HEK293 cells. This mutation did not lead to a significant reduction in NPY-stimulated activity of the receptor in this heterologous expression system. No other allelic variants of the NPY-Y1R gene were identified in patients or controls. CONCLUSION(S): We have identified an inherited heterozygous variant of the NPY-Y1R gene in a girl with precocious puberty; however, this most likely did not contribute to her phenotype. Mutations of the highly conserved NPY-Y1R gene do not appear to represent a frequent mechanism underlying human idiopathic central pubertal disorders.

Adolescent↗

Novel fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 mutations in patients with congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with and without anosmia.

CONTEXT: Kallmann syndrome is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. To date, loss-of-function mutations in the genes encoding anosmin-1 (KAL1) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) have been described in the X-linked and autosomal dominant forms of this syndrome, respectively. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate genetic defects in the KAL1 and FGFR1 genes in patients with congenital isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH). PATIENTS: Eighty patients (71 males and nine females) with IHH were studied, of which 30 were familial. Forty-six of them had olfactory abnormalities. METHODS: The coding regions of both KAL1 and FGFR1 genes were amplified and automatically sequenced. The KAL1 mutations were investigated only in patients with olfactory abnormalities, whereas FGFR1 was studied in the entire group. RESULTS: Two novel KAL1 mutations, an intragenic deletion of exons 3-6 and a splicing mutation IVS7 + 1G>A, were identified in two of 46 patients with Kallmann syndrome. Eight novel heterozygous FGFR1 mutations (G48S, L245P, R250W, A343V, P366L, K618fsX654, P722S, and V795I) were identified in nine of 80 patients with IHH. Eight of them had olfactory abnormalities. Interestingly, the G48S mutation was identified in a normosmic IHH patient. Two unrelated females, who carried FGFR1 mutations, had anosmia and normal reproductive function. CONCLUSION: We identified novel mutations in KAL1 and FGFR1 genes in IHH patients. FGFR1 mutations were identified in 17% of the patients with olfactory abnormalities and in one of 34 normosmic IHH patients. In addition, isolated anosmia was identified in two unrelated females as a partial phenotypic manifestation of FGFR1 defects.

Adolescent↗

[Leydig cell hypoplasia].

The Leydig cell hypoplasia is a rare and well defined form of male pseudohermaphroditism with autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. An inadequate fetal testicular Leydig cell differentiation and, consequently a low androgenic production during intra uterine and post natal periods, result in absence or incomplete virilization in patients with 46,XY karyotype. These patients exhibit a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from complete female external genitalia to male external genital with micropenis, low serum testosterone levels associated with high LH levels. Inactivating mutations of the LH/hCG receptor gene have been identified in affected families in the last decade. However, the low frequency of inactivating mutations in this gene, and the lack of segregation of intragenic polymorphisms among affected members from families with typical phenotype of Leydig cell hypoplasia, suggest the genetic heterogeneity of this condition.

Disorders of Sex Development↗

Frequency of the allelic variant (Trp8Arg/Ile15Thr) of the luteinizing hormone gene in a Brazilian cohort of healthy subjects and in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the frequency of allelic variant Trp8Arg/Ile15Thr in the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene in a Brazilian population of healthy subjects and in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and two adults (115 women) with normal sexual function and 48 patients (24 women) with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism underwent a molecular study of the the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene using a polymerase chain reaction technique followed by enzymatic digestion with the restriction enzymes Nco I (for detection of the Trp8Arg point mutation) and Fok I (for detection of the Ile15Thr point mutation). Basal luteinizing hormone and FSH, testosterone, or estradiol levels were measured in 37 healthy subjects (21 women) and in 27 hypogonadotropic hypogonadism patients (13 women) by immunofluorometric methods (hLH-Spec and hFSH-Spec, AutoDELFIA, Wallac Oy, Turku, Finland). RESULTS: The genetic variant of the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene was present at a similar frequency in healthy subjects (14.4%) compared to patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (16.6%). There was no effect of the allelic variant of the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene on luteinizing hormone levels in patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism as compared to healthy subjects. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the allelic variant Trp8Arg/Ile15Thr of the luteinizing hormone beta-subunit gene is a common polymorphism in the Brazilian population (14.4%). The same frequency of this luteinizing hormone variant in the groups with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and in the healthy subjects excludes a relationship between this variant and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

Adult↗