Chen Zhao1, Hongyan Chai1, Qinghua Zhou2, Jiadi Wen1, Uma M Reddy3, Rama Kastury1, Yonghui Jiang1, Winifred Mak4,5, Allen E Bale6, Hui Zhang7, Peining Li8. 1. Departments of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. 2. Biomedical Translational Research Institute, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. 3. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. 4. Departments of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. winifred.mak@austin.utexas.edu. 5. Department of Women's Health, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. winifred.mak@austin.utexas.edu. 6. Departments of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. allen.bale@yale.edu. 7. Departments of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. zhang.hui@yale.edu. 8. Departments of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. peining.li@yale.edu.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Pregnancy loss ranging from spontaneous abortion (SAB) to stillbirth can result from monogenic causes of Mendelian inheritance. This study evaluated the clinical application of exome sequencing (ES) in identifying the genetic etiology for pregnancy loss. METHODS: A cohort of 102 specimens from products of conception (POC) with normal karyotype and absence of pathogenic copy-number variants were selected for ES. Abnormality detection rate (ADR) and variants of diagnostic value correlated with SAB and stillbirth were evaluated. RESULTS: ES detected 6 pathogenic variants, 16 likely pathogenic variants, and 17 variants of uncertain significance favor pathogenic (VUSfp) from this cohort. The ADR for pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants was 22% and reached 35% with the inclusion of VUSfp. The ADRs of SAB and stillbirth were 36% and 33%, respectively. Affected genes included those associated with multisystem abnormalities, neurodevelopmental disorders, cardiac anomalies, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic disorders, and renal diseases. CONCLUSION: These results supported the clinical utility of ES for detecting monogenic etiology of pregnancy loss. The identification of disease-associated variants provided information for follow-up genetic counseling of recurrence risk and management of subsequent pregnancies. Discovery of novel variants could provide insight for underlying molecular mechanisms causing fetal death.
PURPOSE: Pregnancy loss ranging from spontaneous abortion (SAB) to stillbirth can result from monogenic causes of Mendelian inheritance. This study evaluated the clinical application of exome sequencing (ES) in identifying the genetic etiology for pregnancy loss. METHODS: A cohort of 102 specimens from products of conception (POC) with normal karyotype and absence of pathogenic copy-number variants were selected for ES. Abnormality detection rate (ADR) and variants of diagnostic value correlated with SAB and stillbirth were evaluated. RESULTS: ES detected 6 pathogenic variants, 16 likely pathogenic variants, and 17 variants of uncertain significance favor pathogenic (VUSfp) from this cohort. The ADR for pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants was 22% and reached 35% with the inclusion of VUSfp. The ADRs of SAB and stillbirth were 36% and 33%, respectively. Affected genes included those associated with multisystem abnormalities, neurodevelopmental disorders, cardiac anomalies, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic disorders, and renal diseases. CONCLUSION: These results supported the clinical utility of ES for detecting monogenic etiology of pregnancy loss. The identification of disease-associated variants provided information for follow-up genetic counseling of recurrence risk and management of subsequent pregnancies. Discovery of novel variants could provide insight for underlying molecular mechanisms causing fetal death.