Thromb Haemost 2017; 117(08): 1455-1464
DOI: 10.1160/TH17-02-0085
Coagulation and Fibrinolysis
Schattauer GmbH

F7 gene variants modulate protein levels in a large cohort of patients with factor VII deficiency

Results from a genotype-phenotype study
Gabriele Quintavalle
1   Regional Reference Centre for Inherited Bleeding Disorders, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Federica Riccardi
1   Regional Reference Centre for Inherited Bleeding Disorders, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Gianna Franca Rivolta
1   Regional Reference Centre for Inherited Bleeding Disorders, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Davide Martorana
2   Genetic Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Caterina Di Perna
1   Regional Reference Centre for Inherited Bleeding Disorders, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Antonio Percesepe
2   Genetic Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
Annarita Tagliaferri
1   Regional Reference Centre for Inherited Bleeding Disorders, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
,
on behalf of the Ad-Hoc Study Group› Institutsangaben
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Publikationsverlauf

Received: 06. Februar 2017

Accepted after major revision: 10. April 2017

Publikationsdatum:
22. November 2017 (online)

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Summary

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder caused by mutations in F7 gene with autosomal recessive inheritance. A clinical heterogeneity with poor correlation with FVII:C levels has been described. It was the objective of this study to identify genetic defects and to evaluate their relationships with phenotype in a large cohort of patients with FVII:C<50%. One hundred twenty-three probands were genotyped for F7 mutations and three polymorphic variants and classified according to recently published clinical scores. Forty out of 123 patients (33?%) were symptomatic (43 bleedings). A severe bleeding tendency was observed only in patients with FVII:C<0.10%. Epistaxis (11%) and menorrhagia (32% of females in fertile age) were the most frequent bleedings. Molecular analysis detected 48 mutations, 20 not reported in the F7 international databases. Most mutations (62%) were missense, large deletions were 6.2%. Compound heterozygotes/homozygotes for mutations presented lower FVII:C levels compared to the other classes (Chi2=43.709, p<0,001). The polymorphisms distribution was significantly different among the three F7 genotypic groups (Chi2=72.289, p<0,001). The presence of truncating mutations was associated with lowest FVII:C levels (Chi2=21.351, p=0.002). This study confirms the clinical and molecular variability of the disease and the type of symptoms. It shows a good correlation between the type of F7 mutation and/or polymorphisms and FVII:C levels, without a direct link between FVII:C and bleeding tendency. The results suggest that large deletions are underestimated and that they represent a common mechanism of F7 gene inactivation which should always be investigated in the diagnostic testing for FVII deficiency.