Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Plaza San Francisco s/n, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain. palfonso@unizar.es
Mutations in the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) gene cause Gaucher disease (GD). The aim of this study was to characterise the GBA mutations and analyze genotype/phenotype relationships in 193 unrelated patients from the Spanish GD Registry. We have identified 98.7% of the mutated GBA alleles, finding 56 different GBA mutations and 66 genotypes causing GD in Spain: 47 previously described mutations and 9 novel mutations (4 missense R395C, R463H, W312R and V398I, 1 nonsense R359X, 4 frameshift c.708delC, c.1214-1215delGC, c.1439-1445del7 and c.42-65del24). The most prevalent mutations were N370S and L444P, accounting for 68.7% of the mutated alleles. A wide phenotypic difference was observed within each genotypic group, and 9% of diagnosed type 1 patients developed neurological involvement including parkisonism, tremor, hypoacusia and eye movements. All of these findings indicate that there is a significant genotypic heterogeneity that explains the huge phenotypic variation among Spanish GD patients.