Clinical and Genetic Aspects of Huntington’s Disease in the Malian Population

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Bocoum, Abdoulaye^a | Coulibaly, Toumany^b | Ouologuem, Madani^c | Cissé, Lassana^b | Diallo, Seybou H.^{a; d} | Maiga, Boubacar B.^b | Dembélé, Kékouta^b | Diallo, Salimata^d | Coulibaly, Souleymane dit Papa^{a; e} | Kané, Fousseyni^a | Coulibaly, Thomas^{a; b} | Coulibaly, Dramane^f | Taméga, Abdoulaye^a | Yalcouyé, Abdoulaye^a | Diarra, Salimata^{a; e} | Dembélé, Mohamed E.^a | Maiga, Alassane B.^a | Cissé, Cheick A.K.^a | Traoré, Oumou^a | Fischbeck, Kenneth H.^g | Guinto, Cheick O.^{a; b} | Maiga, Youssoufa^{a; d} | Landouré, Guida^{a; b; g; *} | from The H3Africa consortium

Affiliations: [a] Faculté de Médecine et d’Odontostomatologie, USTTB, Bamako, Mali | [b] Service de Neurologie, CHU du Point “G”, Bamako, Mali | [c] Service de Médecine, Hôpital du Mali, Bamako, Mali | [d] Service de Neurologie, CHU de Gabriel Touré, Bamako, Mali | [e] Service de Psychiatrie, CHU du Point “G”, Bamako, Mali | [f] Hôpital Mère-Enfant “Le Luxembourg”, Bamako, Mali | [g] Neurogenetics Branch, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Guida Landouré, Faculté de Médecine et d’Odontostomatologie, USTTB, Bamako, BP: 1805, Mali. Tel.: +223 76363468; Fax: +223 20229658; E-mail: guida@icermali.org.

Abstract: Background:Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutation in the HTT gene and characterized by involuntary movements as well as cognitive and behavioral impairment. Since its first description 150 years ago, studies have been reported worldwide. However, genetically confirmed cases have been scarce in Africa. Objective:To describe the clinical and genetic aspects of HD in the Malian population. Methods:Patients with HD phenotype and their relatives were enrolled after obtaining consent. Symptoms were assessed using the Total Motor Scale (TMS) of the United Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Brain imaging and blood tests were performed to exclude other causes. DNA was extracted for HTT sequencing. Results:Eighteen patients (13 families) with a HD phenotype were evaluated. A familial history of the disease was found in 84.6% with 55.5% of maternal transmission. The average length of the HTT CAG repeat was 43.6±11.5 (39–56) CAGs. The mean age at onset was 43.1±9.7years. Choreic movements were the predominant symptoms (100% of the cases) with an average TMS of 49.4±30.8, followed by cognitive impairment (average MMSE score: 23.0±12.0) and psychiatric symptoms with 22.2% and 44.4%, respectively. Conclusion:This is one of the largest HD cohorts reported in Africa. Increasing access to genetic testing could uncover many other HD cases and disease-modifying genetic variants. Future haplotype and psychosocial studies may inform the origin of the Malian mutation and the impact of the disease on patients and their relatives.

Keywords: Huntington’s disease, HTT, Mali, Sub-Saharan Africa

DOI: 10.3233/JHD-220529

Journal: Journal of Huntington's Disease, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 195-201, 2022