Objective To observe the hereditary types and clinical characteristics of 137 patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in Ningxia. Methods One hundred and thirty-seven patients with RP who diagnosed by the examinations of visual acuity, optometry, direct or indirect ophthalmoscope, visual field, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and electroretinogram were enrolled. The hereditary types and clinical characteristics were analyzed according to the family history and the Results of ophthalmologic examinations. Results One hundred and thirty-seven patients included 29 autosomal dominant RP (ADRP) patients from 8 families (7.4%), 16 autosomal recessive RP (ARRP) patients from 15 families (13.9%), 10 X-linked RP (XLRP) from 3 families (2.8%), and 82 simplex RP (SRP) patients (75.9%). There were 15 consanguineous marriage families out of 26 families with RP history (57.7%). The patients were classified as typical RP (102 patients, 74.5%) and atypical RP (35 patients, 25.5%). All the ADRP and XLRP patients showed typical clinical features of RP. Ten (62.5%) of ARRP patients and 53 (64.6%) of SRP patients had typical features of RP. Six (37.5%) of ARRP patients and 29 (35.4%) of SRP patients had atypical features of RP. Among atypical RP patients, 17 (48.6%) patients were nonpigmented RP which including 3 patients were misdiagnosed as amblyopia during childhood. The logarithm of minimal angle of resolution (logMAR) best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of ADRP patients was 1.04plusmn;0.51 at the age older than 51 years, while the BCVA of ARRP and XLRP patients were 0.92plusmn;0.61 and 1.70plusmn;0.02 respectively at 21 to 30 years of age. One hundred and twentythree (89.8%) patients suffered from varying degrees of myopia. OCT showed that the average thickness of macular fovea in ADRP patients was (185.73plusmn;1.23) mu;m at the age older than 51 years, while in ARRP and XLRP patients were (173.21plusmn;0.98) and (170.49plusmn;1.15) mu;m respectively at 21 to 30 years of age. Conclusions ADRP and XLRP are typical RP. All atypical RP are ARRP and SRP. Non-pigmented RP are mainly seen in atypical RP which often misdiagnosed as amblyopia during childhood. The photoreceptors in macula are damaged in the early stage and the decline of visual acuity occurred at 21 to 30 years of age in patients with ARRP and XLRP. The ADRP patients has late slower decline of visual acuity and retain some visual acuity at the age older than 51 years.
Objective To screen and analyze NR2E3 gene mutations in rentinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients from Ningxia area of China. Method 120 RP patients were enrolled in this study. The patients include 33 autosomal dominant RP (ADRP) patients from 18 families, 20 autosomal recessive RP (ARRP) patients from 15 families, and 67 simplex RP (SRP) patients.100 healthy people were collected as the control group. PCR and direct DNA sequencing were used to screen the entire coding region and splice sites of NR2E3 gene. Multiple analysis was used to study the effects of NR2E3 gene on RP. ResultsA total of 12 different sequence variants in the NR2E3 gene were identified, including 6 novel sequence variants. 5 variants were detected in non-coding regions; 7 variants were detected on the 4th, 6th, 7th exon which including 3 synonymous mutations and 4 missense mutations. All of them were NR2E3 gene polymorphisms and showed no positive correlation with the RP confirmed by the multivariate logistic regression analysis. The missense mutation of p.Glu121Lys was first found in 1 ADRP proband, 2 SRP patients and 2 control subjects. Among other 8 affected individuals in this ADRP family, 5 patients also had the p.Glu121Lys variant. Notably, the 6 affected individuals with p.Glu121Lys showed more serious ophthalmic findings (early onset and early central visual impairment) than other 3 affected individuals without p.Glu121Lys.Conclusion The mutation frequency of NR2E3 and p.Glu121Lys variant in NR2E3 gene in Ningxia RP patients were lower than previous reports in other populations.