Association of ABCA1 rare nonsynonymous variants with primary open angle glaucoma

Abstract

Objective To explore the rare nonsynonymous variants of ABCA1 gene in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods A prospective cohort study was carried out.Three hundred and ninety-eight POAG patients and 198 healthy controls matched in age and gender were recruited from March 2017 to March 2018 in Eye and Ear Nose Throat (ENT) Hospital of Fudan University.The periphery blood of 2-5 ml from all the subjects was collected for extraction of DNA, and rare variant analysis of the ABCA1 gene was conducted by whole exome sequencing (WES) data of these subjects.The study protocol was approved by Ethic Committee of Eye and Ear Nose Throat Hospital of Fudan University and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (No.2016-32-1), and written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to entering the study cohort. Results A total of 21 rare nonsynonymous variants (minor allele frequency MAF A (p.Thr1437Asn), c.3772G>T(p.Asp1258Tyr), c.775A>G (p.Lys259Glu) and c. 1507_1508insGAGGT (p.Glu503GlyfsX7) were four novel variants.In the 198 healthy controls, five rare nonsynonymous variants were detected in the ABCA1 gene from five subjects respectively, with the detection rate of 2.5%, the detection rate of nonsynonymous in POAG group was higher than that in healthy control group, showing a significant difference (χ2=4.72, P=0.03, OR=2.81). Conclusions Rare nonsynonymous variants in ABCA1 is associated with the pathogenesis of POAG.These variants can enrich the variation spectrum of ABCA1. Key words: Glaucoma, Open angle/genetics; Genetic variation; Sequence analysis, DNA/methods; Nonsynonymous variants; Whole exome sequencing; ABCA1 gene