UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Estimation of the number of inherited prion disease mutation carriers in the UK

Corbie, Rosie; Campbell, Tracy; Darwent, Lee; Rudge, Peter; Collinge, John; Mead, Simon; (2022) Estimation of the number of inherited prion disease mutation carriers in the UK. European Journal of Human Genetics 10.1038/s41431-022-01132-8. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of s41431-022-01132-8.pdf]
Preview
PDF
s41431-022-01132-8.pdf - Published Version

Download (491kB) | Preview

Abstract

Inherited prion diseases (IPD) are a set of rare neurodegenerative diseases that are always caused by mutation of the prion protein gene (PRNP). These are highly heterogeneous in clinical presentation and best described by the specific gene mutation, but traditionally include the canonical syndromes familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstamann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome, and fatal familial insomnia. In the UK, care of IPD patients and clinical PRNP sequencing have been carried out almost exclusively by the National Prion Clinic and affiliated laboratories since the disease gene was discovered in 1989. Using data obtained over 30 years (1990-2019), this study aimed to provide a greater understanding of the genetic prevalence of IPD using multiple complementary methods. A key source of bias in rare disorders is ascertainment, so we included an analysis based on capture-recapture techniques that may help to minimise ascertainment bias. 225 patients, with 21 different IPD mutations were identified, varying in frequency (with 8/21 mutations comprising over 90% observed cases), derived from 116 kindreds and 151 3-generation families. We estimated a total of 303 UK families (95% CI = 222, 384) segregate IPD mutations, 1091 (95% CI = 720, 1461) UK mutation carriers and a lifetime risk of approximately 1 in 60,000. Simpler methods of measuring prevalence based on extrapolation from the annual incidence of disease, and large scale genomic studies, result in similar estimates of prevalence. These estimates may be of value for planning preventive trials of therapeutics in IPD mutation carriers, prevention of prion disease transmission and provision of specialist services.

Type: Article
Title: Estimation of the number of inherited prion disease mutation carriers in the UK
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s41431-022-01132-8
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-022-01132-8
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Institute of Prion Diseases > MRC Prion Unit at UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Institute of Prion Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10151100
Downloads since deposit
16Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item