Utility and implications of exome sequencing in early-onset Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND: Although the genetic load is high in early-onset Parkinson's disease, thorough investigation of the genetic diagnostic yield has yet to be established. The objectives of this study were to assess variants in known genes for PD and other movement disorders and to find new candidates in 50 patients with early-onset PD.

METHODS: We searched for variants either within genes listed by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Task Force on Genetic Nomenclature or rare homozygous variants in novel candidate genes. Further, exome data from 1148 European PD patients (International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium) were used for association testing.

RESULTS: Seven patients (14%) carried pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in Parkin, PLA2G6, or GBA. In addition, rare missense variants in DNAJC13:p.R1830C and in PPM1K:p.Y352C were detected. SPG7:p.A510V and PPM1K:p.Y352C revealed significant association with PD risk (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Although we identified pathogenic variants in 14% of our early-onset PD patients, the majority remain unexplained, and novel candidates need to be validated independently to better further evaluate their role in PD. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.