Mild hemophilia A associated with a cryptic donor splice site mutation in intron 4 of the factor VIII gene.

Hemophilia A, an X-linked disease caused by deficiency of factor VIII, is characterized by variation in clinical severity and coagulation activity. This variation is though to reflect heterogeneity of mutations in the factor VIII gene. Here we describe a CG-to-CA mutation within a potential cryptic donor splice site in intron 4 of the factor VIII gene from a patient with mild disease. This mutation makes the cryptic sequence resemble more closely the consensus sequence for donor splice sites. We infer that the mutation activates the cryptic donor splice site, which in turn causes a defect in RNA processing.