The spectrum of beta-thalassemia mutations in Malays in Singapore and Kelantan (Northeast Malaysia) was studied. Allele specific priming was used to determine the mutations in beta-carriers at -28, Codon 17, IVSI #1, IVSI #5, Codon 41-42 and IVSII #654 along the beta-globin gene. The most common structural hemoglobin variant in Southeast Asia, Hb E, was detected by DNA amplification with restriction enzyme (Mnl1) analysis. Direct genomic sequencing was carried out to detect the beta-mutations uncharacterized by allele-specific priming. The most prevalent beta-mutations in Singaporean Malays were IVSI #5 (45.83%) followed by Hb E (20.83%), codon 15 (12.5%) and IVSI #1 and IVSII #654 at 4.17% each. In contrast, the distribution of the beta-mutations in Kelantan Malays differed, with Hb E as the most common mutation (39.29%) followed by IVSI #5 (17.86%), codon 41-42 (14.29%), codon 19 (10.71%) and codon 17 (3.57%). The beta-mutations in Kelantan Malays follow closely the distribution of beta-mutations in Thais and Malays of Southern Thailand and Malays of West Malaysia. The AAC-->AGC base substitution in codon 19 has been detected only in these populations. The spectrum of beta-mutations in the Singaporean Malays is more similar to those reported in Indonesia with the beta-mutation at codon 15 (TGG-->TAG) present in both populations. The characterization of beta-mutations in Singaporean and Kelantan Malays will facilitate the establishment of effective prenatal diagnosis programs for beta-thalassemia major in this ethnic group.
The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) polymorphisms in a multiracial Asian population and to assess its relevance in the management of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Six hundred unrelated cord blood samples from 200 Chinese, Malay, and Indian healthy newborns were collected at the National University Hospital, Singapore; an additional 100 children with ALL were analyzed for five of the commonly reported TPMT variant alleles using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism and allele-specific polymerase chain reaction-based assays. In the cord blood study, the TPMT*3C variant was detected in all three ethnic groups; Chinese, Malays, and Indians had allele frequencies of 3%, 2.3%, and 0.8%, respectively. The TPMT*3A variant was found only among the Indians at a low allele frequency of 0.5%. The TPMT*6 variant was found in one Malay sample. Among the children with ALL, two white and one Chinese were heterozygous for the TPMT*3A variant and showed intermediate sensitivity to 6-mercaptopurine during maintenance therapy. Three Chinese patients and one Malay patient were heterozygous for the TPMT*3C variant. Mercaptopurine sensitivity could be validated in only one out of four TPMT*3C heterozygous patients. The overall allele frequency of the TPMT variants in this multiracial population was 2.5%. The TPMT*3C was the most common variant allele; TPMT*3A and TPMT*6 were rare. These results support the feasibility of performing TPMT genotyping in all children diagnosed with acute leukemia to minimize toxicity from thiopurine chemotherapy.
DNA technology provides a new avenue to perform neonatal screening tests for single-gene diseases in populations of high frequency. Thalassemia is one of the high-frequency single-gene disorders affecting Singapore and many countries in the malaria belt. The authors explored the feasibility of using PCR-based diagnostic screening on 1,116 unselected sequential cord blood samples for neonatal screening. The cord blood samples were screened for the most common reported alpha- and beta-thalassemia mutations in each ethnic group (Chinese, Malays, and Indians) in a multiracial population. The carrier frequency for alpha-thalassemia mutations was about 6.4% in the Chinese (alpha deletions = 3.9%, alpha deletions = 2.5%), 4.8% in Malays, and 5.2% in Indians. Only alpha deletions were observed in the Chinese. The carrier frequency for beta-thalassemia mutations was 2.7% in the Chinese, 6.3% in Malays, and 0.7% in Indians. Extrapolating to the population distribution of Singapore, the authors found a higher overall expected carrier frequency for alpha- and beta-thalassemia mutations of 9% compared with a previous population study of 6% by phenotype. The highly accurate results make this molecular epidemiologic screening an ideal method to screen for and prevent severe thalassemia in high-risk populations.
Prolonged exposure to thiopurines (eg, mercaptopurine [MP]) is essential for curative therapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but is also associated with frequent dose-limiting hematopoietic toxicities, which is partly explained by inherited genetic polymorphisms in drug metabolizing enzymes (eg, TPMT). Recently, our group and others identified germ line genetic variants in NUDT15 as another major cause of thiopurine-related myelosuppression, particularly in Asian and Hispanic people. In this article, we describe 3 novel NUDT15 coding variants (p.R34T, p.K35E, and p.G17_V18del) in 5 children with ALL enrolled in frontline protocols in Singapore, Taiwan, and at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Patients carrying these variants experienced significant toxicity and reduced tolerance to MP across treatment protocols. Functionally, all 3 variants led to partial to complete loss of NUDT15 nucleotide diphosphatase activity and negatively influenced protein stability. In particular, the p.G17_V18del variant protein showed extremely low thermostability and was completely void of catalytic activity, thus likely to confer a high risk of thiopurine intolerance. This in-frame deletion was only seen in African and European patients, and is the first NUDT15 risk variant identified in non-Asian, non-Hispanic populations. In conclusion, we discovered 3 novel loss-of-function variants in NUDT15 associated with MP toxicity, enabling more comprehensive pharmacogenetics-based thiopurine dose adjustments across diverse populations.