A second locus for familial generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus maps to chromosome 2q21-q33

Am J Hum Genet. 1999 Oct;65(4):1078-85. doi: 10.1086/302593.

Abstract

We report a clinical and genetic study of a family with a phenotype resembling generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+), described by Berkovic and colleagues. Patients express a very variable phenotype combining febrile seizures, generalized seizures often precipitated by fever at age >6 years, and partial seizures, with a variable degree of severity. Linkage analysis has excluded both the beta 1 subunit gene (SCN1B) of a voltage-gated sodium (Na+) channel responsible for GEFS+ and the two loci, FEB1 and FEB2, previously implicated in febrile seizures. A genomewide search, under the assumption of incomplete penetrance at 85% and a phenocopy rate of 5%, permitted identification of a new locus on chromosome 2q21-q33. The maximum pairwise LOD score was 3.00 at recombination fraction 0 for marker D2S2330. Haplotype reconstruction defined a large (22-cM) candidate interval flanked by markers D2S156 and D2S2314. Four genes coding for different isoforms of the alpha-subunit voltage-gated sodium channels (SCN1A, SCN2A1, SCN2A2, and SCN3A) located in this region are strong candidates for the disease gene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age of Onset
  • Aged
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Chromosomes, Human, Pair 2 / genetics*
  • Epilepsy, Generalized / epidemiology
  • Epilepsy, Generalized / genetics*
  • Epilepsy, Generalized / physiopathology
  • Female
  • France / epidemiology
  • Genetic Markers / genetics
  • Haplotypes / genetics
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Lod Score
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pedigree
  • Penetrance
  • Seizures, Febrile / epidemiology
  • Seizures, Febrile / genetics*
  • Seizures, Febrile / physiopathology
  • Sodium Channels / genetics

Substances

  • Genetic Markers
  • Sodium Channels

Associated data

  • OMIM/121210