A limited spectrum of phenylalanine hydroxylase mutations is observed in phenylketonuria patients in western Poland and implications for treatment with 6R tetrahydrobiopterin

Abstract

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive defect in hepatic metabolism of phenylalanine, which is secondary to mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. Sixty-seven ethnically Polish PKU patients, followed at the Outpatient Department of Pediatrics and Developmental Medicine in Poznan, Poland, were assessed for mutations in the PAH gene. Two mutations were identified in 61 of 67 patients and a single mutation was identified in the remaining six patients. The four most prevalent mutations (p.R408W, 68%; c.1066-11G>A, 6%; c.1315+1G>A, 5.2%; c.822-832delGCCCATGTATA, 3.7%) accounted for 83% of the mutant alleles. Fifteen additional mutations were identified of which most (13/15) were observed in an individual patient. Before knowledge of PAH genotypes, 19 patients were challenged with a 20 mg kg(-1) dose of 6R tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4)) and serum phenylalanine concentration was monitored in hospital over 24 h. Two patients responded to the BH(4) challenge with a reduction of serum phenylalanine concentration >30% from baseline. PAH genotypes of the two responsive patients would have been predicted, as they contained mutations recognized as BH(4) responsive, whereas the 17 patients who were unresponsive would have been predicted as their mutations were either recognized as non-responsive or were highly deleterious frame-shift mutations. Overall, only 7.5% (5/ 67) of patients had PAH mutations recognized as responsive to co-factor therapy. Among the PKU patients from western Poland, PAH mutations responsive to BH(4) therapy are poorly represented; therefore, genotyping may be useful for identifying candidate patients likely to respond to BH(4) before physiological challenge.