Pitfalls of relying on genetic testing only to diagnose inherited metabolic disorders in non-western populations - 5 cases of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency from South Africa.

UNLABELLED

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) deficiencies are a group of mainly infantile onset disorders stemming from defects in pyruvate catabolism. They are characterised by severe lactic acidosis and progressive neurodegeneration.Although the gene is implicated in most cases of PDHC deficiency worldwide, no pathogenic variants have been reported in South African patients to date, despite availability of sequencing in the state diagnostic setting.

METHODS

DNA from five patients with low to absent PDHC activity in fibroblasts were subjected to PDHC deficiency gene panel analysis. Included in the panel were: and .

RESULTS

No pathogenic variants were identified in 4 out of 5 cases investigated. A homozygous frame-shift mutation was detected in the gene in one patient, supporting a diagnosis of multiple mitochondrial dysfunction syndrome type 2.

DISCUSSION

A single, novel, homozygous frame-shift mutation was detected in a black South African child with severe neurodegenerative disease and very low to absent PDHC enzyme activity. This finding of a homozygous mutation in a patient from a non-consanguineous background may indicate a need for further investigation in clinically similar cases as well as heterozygous carrier rates in unaffected individuals from the same ethnic background.The paucity of identifiable mutations in 4 out of 5 South African patients with confirmed PDHC deficiency highlights the dangers in relying on Western population based genetic panels for diagnosing rare metabolic disease in genetically understudied populations.