Objective To assess mutations in the ALDH3A2 gene in two patients with Sj(o)gren-Larsson syndrome manifesting primarily as congenital ichthyosis,mental retardation and spastic paraplegia.Methods Two patients,a 2-year-old girl and a 1.5-year-old boy,with Sj(o)gren-Larsson syndrome were included in this study.None of their family members suffered from this disease.Peripheral blood samples were collected from the two patients,their family members (an elder brother and both parents),and 100 unrelated healthy controls.DNA was extracted from the blood samples,and subjected to PCR for the amplification of 10 encoding exons and their flanking sequences of the ALDH3A2 gene followed by DNA sequencing.Results A homozygous missense mutation c.325G ＞ A,which leads to the substitution of glycine by arginine at position 109,was detected in the ALDH3A2 gene of patient 1,whose parents and elder brother were heterozygous carriers of this mutation.The patient 2 carried compound heterozygous mutations,including c.1157A ＞ G (p.Asn386Ser) inherited from his father and c.1294A ＞ T (p.Arg432X) inherited from his mother.None of these mutations was detected in the unrelated healthy controls.Conclusion The homozygous mutation p.Gly109Arg and compound heterozygous mutations p.Asn386Ser and p.Arg432X present in these patients may be associated with clinical phenotypes of Sj(o)grenLarsson syndrome.

Objective To detect the mutation of CARD15 gene in a patient with sarcoidosis and tuberculosis.Methods Clinical data were collected from a 32-year-old male patient with early-onset sarcoidosis and tuberculosis.Peripheral blood was obtained from the patient,both of his parents,and 102 healthy controls.All the 12 exons of the coding regions as well as flanking intronic sequences of the CARD15 gene were amplified by PCR followed by direct sequencing.The resulted sequences were blasted against the reference sequences of CARD15 gene.Results Both clinical features and histopathological findings of the patient were consistent with sarcoidosis.Furthermore,the patient presented with flexion contractures of fingers and toes,as well as iridocyclitis.A heterozygous missense recurrent mutation c.1000C ＞ T (p.R334W) was detected in exon 4 of the CARD15 gene in the patient,but not in either of his parents or any of the 102 healthy controls.Conclusions A p.R334W mutation in the CARD15 is identified in the patient,which may be responsible for the clinical phenotype of earlyonset sarcoidosis.Gene analysis may be a useful method to clarify the etiology of early-onset sarcoidosis.