2021 Volume 156 Pages 47-50
Autosomal dominant non-syndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL) is genetically and clinically heterogeneous. To date, 48 causative genes have been identified. Of these genes, TECTA, WFS1 or KCNQ4 mutations are the most frequently identified in subjects with ADNSHL in Japan. We performed mutation analysis of TECTA, WFS1 and KCNQ4 in a Japanese family with ADNSHL, and identified a heterozygous missense mutation in TECTA. The missense mutation was located in the zonadhesin domain in the alpha-tectorin protein encoded by the gene. The affected family members, including 6-year-old girl, 59-year-old grandmother and 33-year-old father, showed bilateral moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Their audiogram patterns were of the symmetric and descending type. The average annual threshold deterioration of the girl was 0.5 dB/year and that of her father was 0.5 dB/year, indicating that their hearing loss was stable. Their auditory findings were consistent with the established genotype-phenotype correlation of missense mutations in TECTA: missense mutations in the zonadhesin domain cause high-frequency hearing loss; when amino acid residues other than cysteine are affected, the hearing loss is stable.
