Von Willebrand disease is associated with disease causing variants in the VWF gene and is the most common inherited blood clotting disorder. Molecular genetic analysis of the VWF gene is extremely complex and has not yet been introduced in the general laboratory practice in Slovenia. The reason for this is the fact that both VWF gene and its pseudogene (VWFP1) are highly polymorphic, which interferes with the molecular genetic analysis, including Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing (NGS).
The purpose of the master's thesis is to evaluate the genetic causes of VWB type 2 in the Slovenian patients. In the study we included 26 patients suspected of having VWB type 2. We introduced an approach enabling specific amplification of exon 28 of the gene VWF and not pseudogene VWFP1. Amplified fragment was then sequenced using Sanger approach. According to the ACMG classification, detected variants were classified as pathogenic, probably pathogenic, variants of unknown significance (VUS) and benign. All but benign changes were further investigated and their clinical significance was determined. Finally, we compared the detected variants and phenotypes of patients with the phenotypes described in other populations. The frequency of VWB type 2A in our group of patients with VWB type 2 was 25% and with type 2B 12.5%. We did not detect any variants in the patients that would be associated with VWB type 2M and 2N. Compared to other populations, the frequency of VWB type 2A in Slovenia is higher and the frequency of other types is lower. The reason might be low number of patients included in the study and experimental design of the study focusing on exon 28 of the VWF gene. Patients where only benign variants were detected will be subsequently analyzed using the NGS approach, as we expect disease causing variants to be located in other parts of the VWF gene.
Until now, for patients with suspected VWB, confirmation of the diagnosis was based only on clinical data. With molecular genetic analyses, we can now confirm the diagnosis more quickly and more accurately.
|