Incidence and Clinical Features of TRPV4-Linked Axonal Neuropathies in a USA Cohort of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 2

Abstract

Mutations in TRPV4 are linked to a group of clinically distinct, but also overlapping axonal neuropathies, including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2C (CMT2C), scapuloperoneal spinal muscular atrophy, and congenital distal spinal muscular atrophy. The incidence of TRPV4-linked cases ranges from 0 to 7% in overall axonal neuropathy cohorts from European countries and Australia. However, the data from other areas remain largely unknown. In this study, we screened for TRPV4 mutations in a well-characterized USA cohort of 62 unrelated CMT2 patients without mutations in MFN2, GARS, NEFL, and GDAP1. All 15 coding exons of TRPV4 were analyzed by Sanger-sequencing. Clinical features of TRPV4-linked patients were compared with those lacking TRPV4 mutations. We identified two TRPV4 mutations in two patients. A TRPV4-R316C was identified in a patient with family history, while a TRPV4-R269C in an apparently sporadic case. Marked clinical variations were observed in the patients with TRPV4 mutations. Our data suggest that TRPV4-linked CMT2C accounts for a sizable fraction in this USA cohort of CMT2; it has a wide phenotypic spectrum, and vocal cord paralysis, scapular weakness and wasting, skeletal dysplasia, and hearing loss are suggestive signs for TRPV4-linked CMT2C.

Keywords: Axonal neuropathy; CMT2C; Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease; TRPV4; Vocal cord paralysis.