Objective To investigate the prevalence and frequency of the common mutations in Uigur non-syndromic deafness group in Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region of China, by means of screening nine mutations of four known deafness genes. Methods One hundred eighty-four Uigur patients and 133 Han patients with non-syndromic hearing loss were enrolled in this study. The screening was performed on GJB2, GJB3, mtDNA 12S rRNA and SLC26A4 deafness genes of 35delG, 176de116,235de1C ,299-300delAT,538C ＞ T, 1555A ＞ G, 1494C ＞ T,2168A ＞ G, IVS7-2A ＞ G in these two groups, by means of genic microarray. Results The totlal mutation rate found in the Uigur deafness groups was 12. 50%, significantly different from that in the Han deafness groups (30. 83% ,χ2 = 16. 092 ,P ＜0. 01 ). The GJB2 mutation rate in the Uigur deafness groups was 9. 24%, not significantly different from that in the Han deafness groups ( 14. 29% ,χ2 = 1. 953 ,P ＞0. 05 ). The mutation rate of SL C26A4 was 1.63% and 13.53% respectively in Uigur and Han deafness groups, and has significant difference (χ2 = 17. 683, P ＜ 0. 01 ). The mt DNA 12S rRNA mutation rate in the Uigur deafness groups was 1.63%, not significantly different from that in the Han deafness groups (3.01%, χ2 = 0. 175, P ＞ 0. 05 ). The GJB3 mutation rate of these two deafness groups was very low, shown as 0. 75% and 0 respectively. Conclusions The mutation rate of common deafness genes is lower in the Uigar nonsyndromie deafness group, and the mutation rate of SLC26A4 genes is significantly lower than that in the Han deafness groups. The most common mutation in four known deafness genes is GJB2, whose favorite spots are 235delC and 35delG.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the frequency of the mutations in Uyghur nonsyndromic deafness groups in Kashgar region of Xinjiang province by means of screening the common mutations of known deafness genes in China.

METHODSOne hundred and seventy-four Uyghur patients with hearing loss were involved in this study. Questionnaire survey was conducted and peripheral blood samples were collected for polymerase chain reaction. Screening was performed for 35delG, 176-191del16, 235delC, 299-300delAT, 1555A > G, 1494C > T, 2168A > G and IVS7-2A > G. DNA sequence analysis was performed for the samples with absent signals at some loci. SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSMutation of GJB2 was the most common among the three known deafness genes. 187delG was found for the first time in Uyghur groups with hearing loss and was a new pathological mutation of GJB2. The mutation rate of SLC26A4 was low in the experimental group with no significant difference when compared with the control group. The mtDNA 12S rRNA mutation rate in the deaf group was low but not detected in the control group. In addition, mutations were not detected in 17 cases among the 20 patients with positive family history.

CONCLUSIONThe mutation rate and dominant mutation of Uyghur ethnic nonsyndromic deaf groups have their own characteristics, it is necessary to conduct a sequence analysis and a stemma studying for an aim of perfecting the mutation spectrum of Uyghur deafness gene.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Connexin 26 ; Connexins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Deafness ; ethnology ; genetics ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; genetics ; Mutation ; RNA, Ribosomal ; genetics ; Young Adult