Repository logo
 

A high-throughput sequencing test for diagnosing inherited bleeding, thrombotic, and platelet disorders.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Stephens, Jonathan C 
Hu, Fengyuan 
Deevi, Sri VV 

Abstract

Inherited bleeding, thrombotic, and platelet disorders (BPDs) are diseases that affect ∼300 individuals per million births. With the exception of hemophilia and von Willebrand disease patients, a molecular analysis for patients with a BPD is often unavailable. Many specialized tests are usually required to reach a putative diagnosis and they are typically performed in a step-wise manner to control costs. This approach causes delays and a conclusive molecular diagnosis is often never reached, which can compromise treatment and impede rapid identification of affected relatives. To address this unmet diagnostic need, we designed a high-throughput sequencing platform targeting 63 genes relevant for BPDs. The platform can call single nucleotide variants, short insertions/deletions, and large copy number variants (though not inversions) which are subjected to automated filtering for diagnostic prioritization, resulting in an average of 5.34 candidate variants per individual. We sequenced 159 and 137 samples, respectively, from cases with and without previously known causal variants. Among the latter group, 61 cases had clinical and laboratory phenotypes indicative of a particular molecular etiology, whereas the remainder had an a priori highly uncertain etiology. All previously detected variants were recapitulated and, when the etiology was suspected but unknown or uncertain, a molecular diagnosis was reached in 56 of 61 and only 8 of 76 cases, respectively. The latter category highlights the need for further research into novel causes of BPDs. The ThromboGenomics platform thus provides an affordable DNA-based test to diagnose patients suspected of having a known inherited BPD.

Description

Keywords

Blood Platelet Disorders, Case-Control Studies, DNA Copy Number Variations, Female, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Hemorrhage, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Male, Mutation, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Thrombosis

Journal Title

Blood

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0006-4971
1528-0020

Volume Title

127

Publisher

American Society of Hematology
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/L022982/1)
Medical Research Council (MC_PC_12009)
British Heart Foundation (None)
British Heart Foundation (None)
This study, including the enrollment of cases, sequencing, and analysis received support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) BioResource–Rare Diseases. The NIHR BioResource is funded by the NIHR (http://www.nihr.ac.uk). Research in the Ouwehand Laboratory is also supported by grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, the British Heart Foundation, the British Society of Haematology, the European Commission, the MRC, the NIHR, and the Wellcome Trust; the laboratory also receives funding from National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). The clinical fellows received funding from the MRC (C.L. and S.K.W.); the NIHR–Rare Diseases Translational Research Collaboration (S. Sivapalaratnam); and the British Society for Haematology and National Health Service Blood and Transplant (T.K.B.).