Maternally transmitted non-syndromic deafness was described recently both in pedigrees with susceptibility to aminoglycoside ototoxicity and in a large Arab-Israeli pedigree. Because of the known action of aminoglycosides on bacterial ribosomes, we analysed the sequence of the mitochondrial rRNA genes of three unrelated patients with familial aminoglycoside-induced deafness. We also sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the Arab-Israeli pedigree. All four families shared a nucleotide 1555 A to G substitution in the 12S rRNA gene, a site implicated in aminoglycoside activity. Our study offers the first description of a mitochondrial rRNA mutation leading to disease, the first cases of non-syndromic deafness caused by a mitochondrial DNA mutation and the first molecular genetic study of antibiotic-induced ototoxicity.
It is common among Israeli Arabs who live in the villages to prefer consanguineous marriages, particularly among first cousins. In addition, such villages are populated by a few (less than 20) original families, and inter-family/inter-village marriages are infrequent. The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of such "consanguinity" in Taibe, a large Arab village, 30 km from Tel Aviv. Six hundred ten families were prospectively ascertained through infants who were routinely seen in the local "Well Baby Clinics." A significant increase in the incidence of major malformations was noted in relation to the closeness of the parental relationship. For the index cases group the prevalence of individuals with major malformations were 5.8% in the product of inter-village marriages, 8.3% in the intra-village non-related matings, 15.1% in the distant consanguineous group, and up to 15.8% in the progeny of first-cousin marriages (P less than 0.001). In the siblings of these index cases, the frequency of major malformations was 4.3%, 4.5%, 10.5%, and 10.3%, respectively. Analysis of the major malformations by each body system showed the same trend. The study demonstrates a marked high rate of consanguineous marriages, whose effect leads to a marked increase in major malformations and thus a prominent public health problem in such villages. This requires a unique genetic counseling approach.
This standardized brain tumor model is highly reproducible and useful for testing new treatment regimens. Cilengitide is highly effective in suppressing blood vessel growth, thereby controlling orthotopic growth of this glioblastoma cell line.
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