The Usefulness of a Targeted Next Generation Sequencing Gene Panel in Providing Molecular Diagnosis to Patients With a Broad Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Simona Mellone, Chiara Puricelli, Denise Vurchio, Sara Ronzani, Simone Favini, Arianna Maruzzi, Cinzia Peruzzi, Amanda Papa, Alice Spano, Fabio Sirchia, Giorgia Mandrile, Alessandra Pelle, Paolo Rasmini, Fabiana Vercellino, Andrea Zonta, Ivana Rabbone, Umberto Dianzani, Maurizio Viri, Mara Giordano

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders comprise a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of conditions that affect 2%–5% of children and represents a public health challenge due to complexity of the etiology. Only few patients with unexplained syndromic and non-syndromic NDDs receive a diagnosis through first-tier genetic tests as array-CGH and the search for FMR1 CGG expansion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical performance of a targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) gene panel as a second-tier test in a group of undiagnosed patients with NDDs. Method: A 221-gene next-generation sequencing custom panel was designed and used to analyze a cohort of 338 patients with a broad spectrum of NDDs (202 males and 136 females) including Intellectual Disability (ID), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Epilepsy, language and motor disorders. Results: A molecular diagnosis was established in 71 patients (21%) and a de novo origin was present in 38 (64.4%) of the available trios. The diagnostic yield was significantly higher in females than in males (29.4% vs. 15.3%; p = 0.0019) in particular in ASD (36.8% vs. 7.6%; p = 0.0026) and Epilepsy (38.9% vs. 14.4% p = 0.001). The most involved genes were SLC2A1, SCN1A, ANKRD11, ATP1A2, CACNA1A, FOXP1, and GNAS altered in more than two patients and accounting for the 19.7% of the diagnosis. Conclusion: Our findings showed that this NGS panel represents a powerful and affordable clinical tool, significantly increasing the diagnostic yield in patients with different form of NDDs in a cost- and time-effective manner without the need of large investments in data storage and bioinformatic analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number875182
JournalFrontiers in Genetics
Volume13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Aug 2022

Keywords

  • NGS gene panel
  • autism
  • epilepsy
  • intellectual disability
  • neurodevelopmental disorders

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