High frequency of beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration (BPAN) among patients with intellectual disability and young-onset parkinsonism

Abstract Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder, characterized by the accumulation of iron in regions such as the basal ganglia. We enrolled 28 patients with childhood intellectual disability and young-onset parkinsonism (≤40 years at onset) and 4 patients with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy. All had been clinically diagnosed, and the prevalence of genetic mutations linked to NBIA ( PANK2 [exons 1–7], PLA2G6 [exons 2–17], C19orf12 [exons 1–3], WDR45 [exons 2–11], COASY [exons 1–9], FA2H [exons 1–7], and RAB39B [exons 1, 2]) was evaluated. We detected 7 female patients (25.0%, 7 of 28) with de novo heterozygote WDR45 mutations, which are known to be pathogenic for beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration. All 7 patients had common clinical features. Pathogenic mutations in other NBIA genes were not found. We also screened 98 patients with early-onset parkinsonism without intellectual disability and 110 normal controls of Japanese origin for WDR45 mutations. None had WDR45 mutations. Our data suggest a high frequency of beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration mutations in the Japanese population.