Phenotypic Profiling in Subjects Heterozygous for 1 of 2 Rare Variants in the Hypophosphatasia Gene (ALPL).

Abstract

ContextHypophosphatasia (HPP) is a syndrome marked by low serum alkaline phosphatase (AlkP) activity as well as musculoskeletal and/or dental disease. While the majority of subjects with HPP carry a pathogenic variant in the ALPL gene or its regulatory regions, individual pathogenic variants are often not tightly correlated with clinical symptomatology. We sought to better understand the genotype/phenotype correlation in HPP by examining the clinical and biochemical data of 37 subjects with 2 rare variants in ALPL.MethodsThrough BioVU, a DNA biobank that pairs individuals’ genetic information with their de-identified medical records, we identified subjects with 2 rare variants with distinct reported clinical phenotypes (p.D294A and p.T273M). We then performed a manual review of these subjects’ de-identified medical records along with computational modeling of protein structure to construct a genetic, biochemical and clinical phenotype for each subject and variant.ResultsTwenty subjects with the p.D294A variant and 17 with the p.T273M variant had sufficient data for analysis. Among subjects in our cohort with the p.D294A variant, 6 (30.0%) had both clinical bone disease and serum AlkP activity below 40 IU/L while 4 subjects (23.5%) with the p.T273M variant met the same criteria despite the distinct clinical phenotypes of these variants.ConclusionsGiven the loose genotype/phenotype correlation in HPP seen in our cohort, clinical context is crucial for the interpretation of genetic test results to guide clinical care in this population. Otherwise, over- or under-diagnosis may occur, resulting in misidentification of those who may benefit from additional screening and perhaps pharmacologic intervention.