Objective: To investigate the gene mutations and the clinical features of Chinese patients with autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism(AR-JP).
Methods: the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequence analysis, and restriction enzyme digestion analysis were applied to check parkin gene mutations of 15 index patients from 15 families with AR-JP.
Results: Three families were detected to have parkin mutations. Two of them had heterozygous deletion mutations (202-203 del AG in exon 2, 1069-1074 del GTGTCC in exon 9) and another of them carried a heterozygous missense mutation [1422(T-->C) in exon 12]. Two of the mutations [1069-1074delGTGTCC and 1422(T-->C)] were not reported previously. There were six patients in the three families. Mean age at onset was 25.2+/-5.7 years, ranging from 18 to 31 years. The symptoms were under slow progression, diurnal fluctuation with sleep benefit, and hyperreflexia were relatively prominent. Response to levodopa was satisfactory.
Conclusion: There are parkin mutations happened in Chinese patients with AR-JP. Patients with parkin mutations have distinct clinical features besides the common clinical features of Parkinson's disease.