Results of targeted next-generation sequencing in children with cystic kidney diseases often change the clinical diagnosis

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 23;15(6):e0235071. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235071. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Cystic kidney diseases are a very heterogeneous group of chronic kidney diseases. The diagnosis is usually based on clinical and ultrasound characteristics and the final diagnosis is often difficult to be made. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) may help the clinicians to find the correct final diagnosis. The aim of our study was to test the diagnostic yield of NGS and its ability to improve the diagnosis precision in a heterogeneous group of children with cystic kidney diseases. Next-generation sequencing of genes responsible for the formation of cystic kidneys was performed in 31 unrelated patients with various clinically diagnosed cystic kidney diseases gathered at the Department of Pediatrics of Motol University Hospital in Prague between 2013 and 2018. The underlying pathogenic variants were detected in 71% of patients (n = 22), no or only one (in case of autosomal recessive inheritance) pathogenic variant was found in 29% of patients (n = 9). The result of NGS correlated with the clinical diagnosis made before the NGS in 55% of patients (n = 17), in the remaining 14 children (45%) the result of NGS revealed another type of cystic kidney disease that was suspected clinically before or did not find causal mutation in suspected genes. The most common unexpected findings were variants in nephronophthisis (NPHP) genes in children with clinically suspected autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD, n = 4). Overall, 24 pathogenic or probably pathogenic variants were detected in the PKHD1 gene, 8 variants in the TMEM67 gene, 4 variants in the PKD1 gene, 2 variants in the HNF1B gene and 2 variants in BBS1 and NPHP1 genes, respectively. NGS is a valuable tool in the diagnostics of various forms of cystic kidney diseases. Its results changed the clinically based diagnoses in 16% (n = 5) of the children.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / genetics
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / genetics
  • Czech Republic
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
  • Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-beta / genetics
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Kidney Diseases, Cystic / diagnosis
  • Kidney Diseases, Cystic / genetics*
  • Male
  • Microtubule-Associated Proteins / genetics
  • Mutation*
  • Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Recessive / diagnosis
  • Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Recessive / genetics*
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / genetics
  • TRPP Cation Channels / genetics

Substances

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • Bbs1 protein, human
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins
  • HNF1B protein, human
  • Microtubule-Associated Proteins
  • NPHP1 protein, human
  • PKHD1 protein, human
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • TRPP Cation Channels
  • polycystic kidney disease 1 protein
  • Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-beta

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by the Charles University, First Faculty of Medicine grant projects GAUK 1015, PROGRES Q25/LF1, IGA MZCR NT 13090-4 and by University Hospital Motol grant MH CZ – DRO 00064203. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.