Multiple genetic variants involved in both autoimmunity and autoinflammation detected in Chinese patients with sporadic Meniere's disease: a preliminary study

Jing Zou; Guoping Zhang; Hongbin Li; Zikai Zhao; Qing Zhang; Ilmari Pyykkö; Antti Mäkitie

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1159658

Multiple genetic variants involved in both autoimmunity and autoinflammation detected in Chinese patients with sporadic Meniere's disease: a preliminary study

Front Neurol. 2023 May 18:14:1159658. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1159658. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jing Zou^{1

2}, Guoping Zhang¹, Hongbin Li¹, Zikai Zhao¹, Qing Zhang¹, Ilmari Pyykkö³, Antti Mäkitie²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
² Research Program in Systems Oncology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Hearing and Balance Research Unit, Field of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.

Abstract

Background: The mechanisms of Meniere's disease (MD) remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify possible genetic variants associated with immune regulation in MD.

Methods: The whole immune genome of 16 Chinese patients diagnosed with sporadic MD was sequenced using next-generation sequencing.

Results: Definite pathological variants of MEFV (c.1223G>A, c.1105C>T), COL7A1 (c.5287C>T), and ADA (c.445C>T) contributing to the clinical phenotype were found in three patients. Limited and likely pathological variants of TLR3 (c.2228G>A) and RAB27A (c.560G>A) were detected in one patient each. The following definite pathological variants impairing the structure and function of translated proteins were detected in 10 patients, and multigene variants occurred in five patients: PRF1 (c.710C>A), UNC13D (c.1228A>C), COLEC11 (c.169C>T), RAG2 (c.200G>C), BLM (c.1937G>T), RNF31 (c.2533G>A), FAT4 (c.11498A>G), PEPD (c.788A>G), TNFSF12 (c.470G>A), VPS13B (c.11972A>T), TNFRSF13B (c.226G>A), ERCC6L2 (c.4613A>G), TLR3 (c.2228G>A), ADA (c.445C>T), PEPD (c.151G>A), and MOGS (c.2470G>A). The following limited pathological variants impairing the structure and function of translated proteins were detected in five patients, with double gene variants identified in one patient: EXTL3 (c.1396G>A), MTHFD1 (c.2057G>A), FANCA (c.2039T>C), LPIN2 (c.1814C>T), NBAS (c.4049T>C), and FCN3 (c.734G>A).

Conclusion: Patients with sporadic MD carry multiple genetic variants involved in multiple steps of immune regulation, which might render patients susceptible to developing inflammation via both autoimmune and autoinflammation mechanisms upon internal stress.

Keywords: Meniere's disease; diagnostics; genetics; immunology; mutation.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81771006) and the Ministry of Health Fund Industry of China (201202005).