[Genetic diagnosis of phenylketonuria. IV. Mutations of phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in Caucasian and Gypsy populations in Czech and Slovakia Republics].

Direct sequencing was conducted on the regions of the exon 7 and 12 in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, using solid-phase technology involving the biotin streptavidin system. A novel mutation and seven previously known mutations were identified in the PAH genes among 15 Caucasians and 10 Gypsies in the Czech and Slovakia republics, affected with classical phenylketonuria (PKU). Two of these substitutions (R243X and G272X) resulted in the generation of a premature stop codon, and a single base transition of G to A at codon 261 resulted in the substitution of Arg for Gln (R261Q). These three mutations together accounted for 16.7% of PKU alleles among 15 Caucasians. The R252W mutation was detected in these two groups: two Caucasians were compound heterozygous for the P281L or R408W mutations (6.7% of all mutant alleles). However, all 10 Gypsy PKU patients were homozygous for the R252W transition. The R408W mutation accounted for 43% of PKU alleles in 15 Caucasian PKU patients. A novel heterozygous C-to-G transversion at the third base of codon 263 in the exon 7, resulting in the substitution of Phe for Leu (F263L), was detected in a Caucasian PKU patient (3.3% of all mutant alleles). In this study, we revealed a novel PKU mutation of the F263L in Caucasian populations and a high-risk PKU mutation of the R252W in Gypsy populations.