BACKGROUNDCongenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common developmental anomaly in newborns. The germline mutations in GATA4 and NKX2.5 genes have been identified as responsible for CHD. The frequency of GATA4 and NKX2.5 mutations in Chinese Uygur patients with CHD and the correlation between their genotype and CHD phenotype are unknown.

METHODSWe examined the coding region of GATA4 and NKX2.5 genes in 62 Chinese Uygur patients with CHD and 117 Chinese Uygur individuals as the controls by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing.

RESULTSTwo heterozygous missense mutations of c.1220C > A and c.1273G > A in GATA4 gene, which cause the amino acid residue changes of P407Q and D425N in GATA4, were found in a patient with tetralogy of Fallot and a patient with ventricular septal defect, respectively. The two patients did not have atrioventricular conduct defects or non-cardiac abnormalities. The two mutations are expected to affect the protein function. There were no reported NKX2.5 mutations in the patients.

CONCLUSIONOur results provided the primary data on CHD phenotype associated with GATA4 mutation in the Chinese Uygur population.