ABCC8 mutation allele frequency in the Ashkenazi Jewish population and risk of focal hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia

Purpose: Congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy (OMIM# 256450) is a devastating disease most commonly caused by dominant or recessive mutations in either ABCC8 or KCNJ11, the genes that encode for the beta-cell adenosine triphosphate-regulated potassium channel. A unique combination of a paternally inherited germline mutation and somatic loss-of-heterozygosity causes the focal form of the disease (Focal-congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy [Focal-CHI]), the incidence of which in genetically susceptible individuals is not known. Methods: We genotyped 21,122 Ashkenazi Jewish individuals for two previously identified ABCC8 founder mutations and utilized a clinical database of 61 unrelated Ashkenazi patients with congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy to obtain an estimate of the risk of Focal-CHI in a genetically susceptible fetus. Results: The combined mutation carrier rate in Ashkenazi Jews was 1:52, giving an estimated frequency of homozygosity or compound heterozygosity of 1: 10,816 in this population. The risk of Focal-CHI is 1: 540 per pregnancy in offspring of carrier fathers. Conclusion: We recommend that these mutations be included in the genetic screening program for the Ashkenazi Jewish population. As the risk of Focal-CHI is not expected to be mutation specific, the data reported in this study are useful for counseling all families in which the father was found to carry a recessive ABCC8 or KCNJ11 mutation. Genet Med 2011:13(10):891-894.