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19 in school) how does kamagra work 138% FPL*** cheap kamagra online Children <. 5 and pregnant women have HIGHER LIMITS than shown ESSENTIAL PLAN* For MAGI-eligible people over MAGI income limit up to 200% FPL No long term care. See info here 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 Income $884 (up from $875 in 2020) $1300 (up from $1,284 in 2020) $1,482 $2,004 $2,526 $2,146 $2,903 Resources $15,900 (up from $15,750 in 2020) $23,400 (up from $23,100 in 2020) NO LIMIT** NO LIMIT 2020 levels are in GIS 19 MA/12 â 2020 Medicaid Levels and Other Updates and attachments here * MAGI and ESSENTIAL plan levels are based on Federal Poverty Levels, which are not released until later in 2021. 2020 levels cheap kamagra online are used until then. NEED TO KNOW PAST MEDICAID INCOME AND RESOURCE LEVELS?.
WHAT IS THE HOUSEHOLD SIZE?. See rules here cheap kamagra online. HOW TO READ THE HRA Medicaid Levels chart - Boxes 1 and 2 are NON-MAGI Income and Resource levels -- Age 65+, Blind or Disabled and other adults who need to use "spend-down" because they are over the MAGI income levels. Box 10 on page 3 are the MAGI income levels -- The Affordable Care Act changed the rules for Medicaid income eligibility for many BUT NOT ALL New Yorkers. People in the "MAGI" category - those NOT on Medicare -- have expanded eligibility up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Line, so may now qualify for Medicaid even if they were not eligible before, or may now be eligible for Medicaid without a "spend-down." They cheap kamagra online have NO resource limit.
Box 3 on page 1 is Spousal Impoverishment levels for Managed Long Term Care &. Nursing Homes and Box 8 has the Transfer Penalty rates for nursing home eligibility Box 4 has Medicaid Buy-In for Working People with Disabilities Under Age 65 (still 2017 levels til April 2018) Box 6 are Medicare Savings Program levels (will be updated in April 2018) MAGI INCOME LEVEL of 138% FPL applies to most adults who are not disabled and who do not have Medicare, AND can also apply to adults with Medicare if they have a dependent child/relative under age 18 or under 19 if in school. 42 C.F.R cheap kamagra online. § 435.4. Certain populations have an even higher income limit - 224% FPL for pregnant women and babies <.
Age 1, 154% FPL cheap kamagra online for children age 1 - 19. CAUTION. What is counted as income may not be what you think. For the NON-MAGI Disabled/Aged 65+/Blind, income will still be determined by the same rules as before, explained in this outline and these charts on cheap kamagra online income disregards. However, for the MAGI population - which is virtually everyone under age 65 who is not on Medicare - their income will now be determined under new rules, based on federal income tax concepts - called "Modifed Adjusted Gross Income" (MAGI).
There are good changes and bad changes. GOOD cheap kamagra online. Veteran's benefits, Workers compensation, and gifts from family or others no longer count as income. BAD. There is no more "spousal" or parental refusal for cheap kamagra online this population (but there still is for the Disabled/Aged/Blind.) and some other rules.
For all of the rules see. ALSO SEE 2018 Manual on Lump Sums and Impact on Public Benefits - with resource rules HOW TO DETERMINE SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD TO IDENTIFY WHICH INCOME LIMIT APPLIES The income limits increase with the "household size." In other words, the income limit for a family of 5 may be higher than the income limit for a single person. HOWEVER, cheap kamagra online Medicaid rules about how to calculate the household size are not intuitive or even logical. There are different rules depending on the "category" of the person seeking Medicaid. Here are the 2 basic categories and the rules for calculating their household size.
People who are Disabled, Aged 65+ or Blind - "DAB" or "SSI-Related" Category -- NON-MAGI - See this chart for their household size. These same rules apply to the Medicare Savings Program, with some cheap kamagra online exceptions explained in this article. Everyone else -- MAGI - All children and adults under age 65, including people with disabilities who are not yet on Medicare -- this is the new "MAGI" population. Their household size will be determined using federal income tax rules, which are very complicated. New rule is explained in State's directive 13 ADM-03 - cheap kamagra online Medicaid Eligibility Changes under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 (PDF) pp.
8-10 of the PDF, This PowerPoint by NYLAG on MAGI Budgeting attempts to explain the new MAGI budgeting, including how to determine the Household Size. See slides 28-49. Also seeLegal cheap kamagra online Aid Society and Empire Justice Center materials OLD RULE used until end of 2013 -- Count the person(s) applying for Medicaid who live together, plus any of their legally responsible relatives who do not receive SNA, ADC, or SSI and reside with an applicant/recipient. Spouses or legally responsible for one another, and parents are legally responsible for their children under age 21 (though if the child is disabled, use the rule in the 1st "DAB" category. Under this rule, a child may be excluded from the household if that child's income causes other family members to lose Medicaid eligibility.
See 18 NYCRR cheap kamagra online 360-4.2, MRG p. 573, NYS GIS 2000 MA-007 CAUTION. Different people in the same household may be in different "categories" and hence have different household sizes AND Medicaid income and resource limits. If a man is age 67 and has Medicare and his wife is age cheap kamagra online 62 and not disabled or blind, the husband's household size for Medicaid is determined under Category 1/ Non-MAGI above and his wife's is under Category 2/MAGI. The following programs were available prior to 2014, but are now discontinued because they are folded into MAGI Medicaid.
Prenatal Care Assistance Program (PCAP) was Medicaid for pregnant women and children under age 19, with higher income limits for pregnant woman and infants under one year (200% FPL for pregnant women receiving perinatal coverage only not full Medicaid) than for children ages 1-18 (133% FPL). Medicaid for adults between ages cheap kamagra online 21-65 who are not disabled and without children under 21 in the household. It was sometimes known as "S/CC" category for Singles and Childless Couples. This category had lower income limits than DAB/ADC-related, but had no asset limits. It did not allow "spend down" of excess income.
This category has now been subsumed under the new MAGI adult group whose limit is now raised to 138% FPL. Family Health Plus - this was an expansion of Medicaid to families with income up to 150% FPL and for childless adults up to 100% FPL. This has now been folded into the new MAGI adult group whose limit is 138% FPL. For applicants between 138%-150% FPL, they will be eligible for a new program where Medicaid will subsidize their purchase of Qualified Health Plans on the Exchange. PAST INCOME &.
RESOURCE LEVELS -- Past Medicaid income and resource levels in NYS are shown on these oldNYC HRA charts for 2001 through 2019, in chronological order. These include Medicaid levels for MAGI and non-MAGI populations, Child Health Plus, MBI-WPD, Medicare Savings Programs and other public health programs in NYS. This article was authored by the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program of New York Legal Assistance Group.Samuel Salganik, an attorney at Community Health Advocates of the Community Services Society (CSS) wrote this incredibly thorough article breaking down the types of appeal rights available to individuals covered by the various types of private health insurance plans in New York. This article includes coverage of the changes to patient protections wrought by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Imaging the http://tristangough.com/online-levitra encephalopathy of buy kamagra online with free samples prematurityJulia Kline and colleagues assessed MRI findings at term in 110 preterm infants born before 32 weeksâ gestation and cared for in four neonatal units in Columbus, Ohio. Using automated cortical and sub-cortical segmentation they analysed cortical surface area, sulcal depth, gyrification index, inner cortical curvature and thickness. These measures of brain development and maturation were related to the outcomes of cognitive and buy kamagra online with free samples language testing undertaken at 2 years corrected age using the Bayley-III.
Increased surface area in nearly every brain region was positively correlated with Bayley-III cognitive and language scores. Increased inner cortical curvature was negatively correlated with both outcomes. Gyrification index and sulcal buy kamagra online with free samples depth did not follow consistent trends.
These metrics retained their significance after sex, gestational age, socio-economic status and global injury score on structural MRI were included in the analysis. Surface area and inner cortical curvature explained approximately one-third of the variance in Bayley-III scores.In an accompanying editorial, David Edwards characterises the complexity of imaging and interpreting the combined effects of injury and dysmaturation on the developing brain. Major structural lesions are present in a minority of infants and the problems observed in later childhood require a much broader understanding buy kamagra online with free samples of the effects of prematurity on brain development.
Presently these more sophisticated image-analysis techniques provide insights at a population level but the variation between individuals is such that they are not sufficiently predictive at an individual patient level to be of practical use to parents or clinicians in prognostication. Studies like this highlight the importance of follow-up programmes and help clinicians to avoid falling into the trap of equating normal (no major structural lesion) imaging studies with normal long term outcomes. See pages F460 and F458Drift at buy kamagra online with free samples 10 yearsKaren Luuyt and colleagues report the cognitive outcomes at 10 years of the DRIFT (drainage, irrigation and fibrinolytic therapy) randomised controlled trial of treatment for post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation.
They are to be congratulated for continuing to track these children and confirming the persistence of the cognitive advantage of the treatment that was apparent from earlier follow-up. Infants who received DRIFT were almost twice as likely to buy kamagra online with free samples survive without severe cognitive disability than those who received standard treatment. While the confidence intervals were wide, the point estimate suggests that the number needed to treat for DRIFT to prevent one death or one case of severe cognitive disability was 3.
The original trial took place between 2003 and 2006 and was stopped early because of concerns about secondary intraventricular haemorrhage and it was only on follow-up that the advantages of the treatment became apparent. The study shows that secondary brain injury can buy kamagra online with free samples be reduced by washing away the harmful debris of IVH. No other treatment for post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation has been shown to be beneficial in a randomised controlled trial.
Less invasive approaches to CSF drainage at different thresholds of ventricular enlargement later in the clinical course have not been associated with similar advantage. However the buy kamagra online with free samples DRIFT treatment is complex and invasive and could only be provided in a small number of specialist referral centres and logistical challenges will need to be overcome to evaluate the treatment approach further. See page F466Chest compressionsWith a stable infant in the neonatal unit, it is common to review the events of the initial stabilisation and to speculate on whether chest compressions were truly needed to establish an effective circulation, or whether their use reflected clinician uncertainty in the face of other challenges.
Anne Marthe Boldinge and colleagues provide some objective data on the subject. They analysed buy kamagra online with free samples videos that were recorded during neonatal stabilisation in a single centre with 5000 births per annum. From a birth population of almost 1200 infants there were good quality video recordings from 327 episodes of initial stabilisation where positive pressure ventilation was provided and 29 of these episodes included the provision of chest compressions, mostly in term infants.
6/29 of the infants who received chest compressions were retrospectively judged to have needed them. 8/29 had adequate spontaneous buy kamagra online with free samples respiration. 18/29 received ineffective positive pressure ventilation prior to chest compressions.
5/29 had a heart buy kamagra online with free samples rate greater than 60 beats per minute at the time of chest compressions. A consistent pattern of ventilation corrective actions was not identified. One infant received chest compressions without prior heart rate assessment.
See page 545Propofol for neonatal endotracheal intubationMost clinicians provide sedation/analgesia for neonatal intubations but there is still a lot of uncertainty about buy kamagra online with free samples the best approach. Ellen de Kort and colleagues set out to identify the dose of propofol that would provide adequate sedation for neonatal intubation without side-effects. They conducted a dose-finding trial which evaluated a range of doses in infants of different gestations.
They ended their study after 91 infants because they only achieved adequate sedation without side effects in 13% of patients buy kamagra online with free samples. Hypotension (mean blood pressure below post-mentrual age in the hour after treatment) was observed in 59% of patients. See page 489Growth to early adulthood following extremely preterm birthThe EPICure cohort comprised all babies born at 25 completed weeks of gestation or less in all 276 maternity units in the UK and Ireland from March to December 1995.
Growth data into adulthood are sparse buy kamagra online with free samples for such immature infants. Yanyan Ni and colleagues report the growth to 19 years of 129 of the cohort in comparison with contemporary term born controls. The extremely preterm infants buy kamagra online with free samples were on average 4.0âcm shorter and 6.8âkg lighter with a 1.5âcm smaller head circumference relative to controls at 19 years.
Body mass index was significantly elevated to +0.32âSD. With practice changing to include the provision of life sustaining treatment to greater numbers of infants born at 22 and 23 weeks of gestation there is a strong case for further cohort studies to include this population of infants. See page F496Premature birth buy kamagra online with free samples is a worldwide problem, and the most significant cause of loss of disability-adjusted life years in children.
Impairment and disability among survivors are common. Cerebral palsy is diagnosed in around 10% of infants born before 33 weeks of gestation, although the rates approximately double in the smallest and most vulnerable infants, and other motor disturbances are being detected in 25%â40%. Cognitive, socialisation and behavioural problems are apparent in around half of preterm infants, and there is increased incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders, which develop as the buy kamagra online with free samples children grow older.
Adults born preterm are approximately seven times more likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disease.1 2The neuropathological basis for these long-term and debilitating disorders is often unclear. Brain imaging by ultrasound or MRI shows that only a relatively small proportion of infants have significant destructive brain lesions, and these major lesions are not detected commonly enough to account for the prevalence of long-term impairments. However, abnormalities of brain growth and maturation are common, and it is now apparent that, in addition to recognisable cerebral damage, adverse neurological, cognitive and psychiatric outcomes are consistently associated with abnormal cerebral maturation and development.Currently, most clinical decision-making remains focused around a number of well-described buy kamagra online with free samples cerebral lesions usually detected in routine practice using cranial ultrasound.
Periventricular haemorrhage is common. Severe haemorrhages are associated with long-term adverse outcomes, and in infants born before 33 weeks of gestation, haemorrhagic parenchymal infarction predicts motor deficits â¦.
Imaging the encephalopathy of prematurityJulia Kline and colleagues assessed cheap kamagra online Online levitra MRI findings at term in 110 preterm infants born before 32 weeksâ gestation and cared for in four neonatal units in Columbus, Ohio. Using automated cortical and sub-cortical segmentation they analysed cortical surface area, sulcal depth, gyrification index, inner cortical curvature and thickness. These measures of brain development and maturation were related to the outcomes of cognitive and language cheap kamagra online testing undertaken at 2 years corrected age using the Bayley-III. Increased surface area in nearly every brain region was positively correlated with Bayley-III cognitive and language scores. Increased inner cortical curvature was negatively correlated with both outcomes.
Gyrification index and sulcal cheap kamagra online depth did not follow consistent trends. These metrics retained their significance after sex, gestational age, socio-economic status and global injury score on structural MRI were included in the analysis. Surface area and inner cortical curvature explained approximately one-third of the variance in Bayley-III scores.In an accompanying editorial, David Edwards characterises the complexity of imaging and interpreting the combined effects of injury and dysmaturation on the developing brain. Major structural lesions are present in a minority of infants and the problems observed in later childhood require a much broader understanding of the effects of cheap kamagra online prematurity on brain development. Presently these more sophisticated image-analysis techniques provide insights at a population level but the variation between individuals is such that they are not sufficiently predictive at an individual patient level to be of practical use to parents or clinicians in prognostication.
Studies like this highlight the importance of follow-up programmes and help clinicians to avoid falling into the trap of equating normal (no major structural lesion) imaging studies with normal long term outcomes. See pages cheap kamagra online F460 and F458Drift at 10 yearsKaren Luuyt and colleagues report the cognitive outcomes at 10 years of the DRIFT (drainage, irrigation and fibrinolytic therapy) randomised controlled trial of treatment for post haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation. They are to be congratulated for continuing to track these children and confirming the persistence of the cognitive advantage of the treatment that was apparent from earlier follow-up. Infants who received DRIFT were almost twice as likely to survive without severe cognitive disability than those who cheap kamagra online received standard treatment. While the confidence intervals were wide, the point estimate suggests that the number needed to treat for DRIFT to prevent one death or one case of severe cognitive disability was 3.
The original trial took place between 2003 and 2006 and was stopped early because of concerns about secondary intraventricular haemorrhage and it was only on follow-up that the advantages of the treatment became apparent. The study cheap kamagra online shows that secondary brain injury can be reduced by washing away the harmful debris of IVH. No other treatment for post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation has been shown to be beneficial in a randomised controlled trial. Less invasive approaches to CSF drainage at different thresholds of ventricular enlargement later in the clinical course have not been associated with similar advantage. However the DRIFT treatment is complex and invasive and cheap kamagra online could only be provided in a small number of specialist referral centres and logistical challenges will need to be overcome to evaluate the treatment approach further.
See page F466Chest compressionsWith a stable infant in the neonatal unit, it is common to review the events of the initial stabilisation and to speculate on whether chest compressions were truly needed to establish an effective circulation, or whether their use reflected clinician uncertainty in the face of other challenges. Anne Marthe Boldinge and colleagues provide some objective data on the subject. They analysed videos that were recorded during neonatal stabilisation in a single centre with cheap kamagra online 5000 births per annum. From a birth population of almost 1200 infants there were good quality video recordings from 327 episodes of initial stabilisation where positive pressure ventilation was provided and 29 of these episodes included the provision of chest compressions, mostly in term infants. 6/29 of the infants who received chest compressions were retrospectively judged to have needed them.
8/29 had adequate cheap kamagra online spontaneous respiration. 18/29 received ineffective positive pressure ventilation prior to chest compressions. 5/29 had a heart rate greater than 60 beats per minute cheap kamagra online at the time of chest compressions. A consistent pattern of ventilation corrective actions was not identified. One infant received chest compressions without prior heart rate assessment.
See page 545Propofol for neonatal endotracheal intubationMost clinicians provide sedation/analgesia for neonatal intubations but there is still a cheap kamagra online lot of uncertainty about the best approach. Ellen de Kort and colleagues set out to identify the dose of propofol that would provide adequate sedation for neonatal intubation without side-effects. They conducted a dose-finding trial which evaluated a range of doses in infants of different gestations. They ended their study after 91 infants because they cheap kamagra online only achieved adequate sedation without side effects in 13% of patients. Hypotension (mean blood pressure below post-mentrual age in the hour after treatment) was observed in 59% of patients.
See page 489Growth to early adulthood following extremely preterm birthThe EPICure cohort comprised all babies born at 25 completed weeks of gestation or less in all 276 maternity units in the UK and Ireland from March to December 1995. Growth data into cheap kamagra online adulthood are sparse for such immature infants. Yanyan Ni and colleagues report the growth to 19 years of 129 of the cohort in comparison with contemporary term born controls. The extremely preterm infants were on average 4.0âcm shorter and 6.8âkg cheap kamagra online lighter with a 1.5âcm smaller head circumference relative to controls at 19 years. Body mass index was significantly elevated to +0.32âSD.
With practice changing to include the provision of life sustaining treatment to greater numbers of infants born at 22 and 23 weeks of gestation there is a strong case for further cohort studies to include this population of infants. See page F496Premature birth is a worldwide problem, and the most significant cause of loss of disability-adjusted life years cheap kamagra online in children. Impairment and disability among survivors are common. Cerebral palsy is diagnosed in around 10% of infants born before 33 weeks of gestation, although the rates approximately double in the smallest and most vulnerable infants, and other motor disturbances are being detected in 25%â40%. Cognitive, socialisation and behavioural problems are apparent in around half of preterm infants, and cheap kamagra online there is increased incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders, which develop as the children grow older.
Adults born preterm are approximately seven times more likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disease.1 2The neuropathological basis for these long-term and debilitating disorders is often unclear. Brain imaging by ultrasound or MRI shows that only a relatively small proportion of infants have significant destructive brain lesions, and these major lesions are not detected commonly enough to account for the prevalence of long-term impairments. However, abnormalities of brain growth and maturation are common, and it is now apparent that, in addition to recognisable cerebral damage, adverse neurological, cognitive and psychiatric outcomes are consistently associated with abnormal cerebral maturation and development.Currently, most clinical decision-making remains focused around cheap kamagra online a number of well-described cerebral lesions usually detected in routine practice using cranial ultrasound. Periventricular haemorrhage is common. Severe haemorrhages are associated with long-term adverse outcomes, and in infants born before 33 weeks of gestation, haemorrhagic parenchymal infarction predicts motor deficits â¦.
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Consider a scenario where, at the start of an appointment with a therapist, she explains to you that âthe success of the therapy will depend on your own positive expectations, the respect and esteem that you when to take kamagra oral jelly have for me as a qualified health professional, the warm tone and empathic approach that I adopt towards you, and the trust that you place in me, during the course of treatmentâ. You might find this transparency about the therapeutic process when to take kamagra oral jelly to be refreshingly honest. You might, however, be surprised if this openness turned out to be an ethical obligation that she owed you. Yet, for some commentators, this âopenâ approach when to take kamagra oral jelly to psychotherapy â where there is openness about the common factors that can explain the efficacy of the therapy âis required by ethical standards of informed consent and (more generally) respect for patient autonomy.In this edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics, Garson Leder formulates two responses to this type of âopen therapy claimâ.
That ââ¦.informed consent does not require the practitioners âgo openâ about the therapeutic common factors in psychotherapy, and clarity about the mechanism of change shows us thatâ¦psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is not deceptiveâ¦â.1 This edition also contains a comment by Charlotte Blease on Lederâs paper, and a response by Leder to Bleaseâs comment. All of which makes for an engaging exchange between a proponent of, and an opponent to, open therapy.The open therapy claim stems from âcommon factors findings in psychotherapyâ, specifically, when to take kamagra oral jelly the consensus that there is a set of âcommon factors mediate some, and possibly most, of the ameliorative effects in psychotherapeutic interventionsâ.1 These factors include:client characteristics (eg, positive expectations and hope), therapist qualities (eg, the ability to cultivate positive client characteristics), change processes (eg, the acceptance of a theoretical rationale for the therapy on offer), treatment structure (eg, the delivery of concrete treatments and techniques) and therapeutic relationship (eg, the development of a working alliance between therapist and patient).1There are, therefore, common factors that help explain the efficacy of therapy that are incidental to the theory that grounds or explains the specific psychotherapeutic intervention. Since these incidental common factors â client characteristics, therapist qualities, and the therapeutic relationship â are necessary components to a sufficient understanding of the efficacy of psychotherapy, we can appreciate why proponents of open therapy want patients to be informed of these âincidentalâ common factors that explain why therapy works (when it does work).Lederâs response to open therapy, is to differentiate between mechanisms of change and mediators of change. The mechanisms of change amount to âthe reasons why change occurred or how change came aboutâ whereas the mediators are the âvariables that are statistically correlated with this changeâ.1 In Lederâs example of cognitive therapy, he explains that where a therapist seeks to address maladaptive cognitions (ie, thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions), the therapist may adopt techniques of âidentifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts and beliefs and training patients to challenge maladaptive patterns of thought (eg, all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophising, and overgeneralisation)â.1 In order to explain the therapy, the therapist may then make a âtheory-specific claimâ about the intervention, that it âworks by modifying maladaptive core beliefsâ.1 Leder argues that, while it remains true that the incidental common factors also explain âhow it worksâ, one is a mechanism for change (that needs to be explained to when to take kamagra oral jelly the patient), the others are mediators for the change.For Blease, this will not do.
Her concern is that, given the enormous difficulty in isolating and testing the âefficacy of the so-called specific factors of any psychological modalityâ, it entirely plausible that the important agents of change are the mediators themselves, and the mechanisms may even be immaterial to the efficacy of any given therapy.2 Which is why âethicists have argued patients should know about themâ.2 According to Blease, until basic research can âtake up the batonâ and provide âa clear mechanistic explanation about how a treatment is effectiveâ,2 psychotherapy should be open therapy.Lederâs response to the problem of isolating and testing the efficacy of therapeutic interventions is also call for openness. But it is an openness about the uncertainty that when to take kamagra oral jelly surrounds the therapeutic intervention (the mechanism) itself. Since âthere is currently no consensus about mechanisms of change in psychotherapyâ, Leder suggests that patients need to be informed that âthe therapy onâ¦is based on disputed theoretical foundationsâ and that âtheory-specific techniques are not necessary for healingâ.3 At dispute, therefore, is how open should open therapy be. An openness about what we know when to take kamagra oral jelly about how the therapeutic intervention (the mechanism) works or an openness about what we know about how therapy (the mechanism and the mediators) works.Both Leder and Blease seem to agree on one thing, at least.
They agree on the question that needs to be answered. For them, it is when to take kamagra oral jelly the âhow does the therapy workâ question. For Leder, the answer lies in the mechanisms of change (the specific psychotherapeutic intervention). For Blease, the answer must also when to take kamagra oral jelly include the mediators of change (the incidental common factors).
Answering this question is then equated with providing informed consent. Now, if when to take kamagra oral jelly âexplaining efficacyâ amounts to âproviding informed consentâ then Blease might be on strong ground. But there may be a baton that needs to be taken up by ethicists. To clarify whether satisfying the ethical requirement of informed consent is the same as, or differs from, a scientific explanation of when to take kamagra oral jelly a treatmentâs efficacy.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.AbstractSeveral authors have recently argued that psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is deceptive and undermines patientsâ ability to give informed consent to treatment.
This âdeceptionâ claim is based on the findings that some, and possibly most, of the ameliorative effects in psychotherapeutic interventions are mediated by therapeutic common factors shared by successful treatments (eg, expectancy effects and therapist effects), rather than because of theory-specific techniques. These findings have led to claims that psychotherapy is, at least partly, likely a placebo, and that practitioners of psychotherapy have a duty to âgo openâ to patients about the role when to take kamagra oral jelly of common factors in therapy (even if this risks negatively affecting the efficacy of treatment). To not âgo openâ is supposed to unjustly restrict patientsâ autonomy. This paper makes two related arguments when to take kamagra oral jelly against the âgo openâ claim.
(1) While therapies ought to provide patients with sufficient information to make informed treatment decisions, informed consent does not require that practitioners âgo openâ about therapeutic common factors in psychotherapy, and (2) clarity about the mechanisms of change in psychotherapy shows us that the common-factors findings are consistent with, rather than undermining of, the truth of many theory-specific forms of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is not deceptive and is not a when to take kamagra oral jelly placebo. The call to âgo openâ should be resisted and may have serious detrimental effects on patients via the dissemination of a false view about how therapy works.psychotherapyinformed consentpaternalismethics.
Consider a scenario Learn More where, at the start of an appointment with a therapist, she explains to you that âthe success of the therapy will depend on your own positive expectations, the respect and esteem that you have for me as a qualified health professional, the warm tone and empathic approach that I adopt cheap kamagra online towards you, and the trust that you place in me, during the course of treatmentâ. You might cheap kamagra online find this transparency about the therapeutic process to be refreshingly honest. You might, however, be surprised if this openness turned out to be an ethical obligation that she owed you. Yet, for some commentators, this âopenâ approach to psychotherapy â where there is openness about the common factors that can explain the efficacy of the therapy âis required by ethical standards of informed consent and (more generally) respect for patient autonomy.In this cheap kamagra online edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics, Garson Leder formulates two responses to this type of âopen therapy claimâ. That ââ¦.informed consent does not require the practitioners âgo openâ about the therapeutic common factors in psychotherapy, and clarity about the mechanism of change shows us thatâ¦psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is not deceptiveâ¦â.1 This edition also contains a comment by Charlotte Blease on Lederâs paper, and a response by Leder to Bleaseâs comment.
All of which makes for an engaging exchange between a proponent of, and an opponent to, open therapy.The open therapy claim stems from âcommon factors findings in psychotherapyâ, specifically, the consensus that there is a set of âcommon factors mediate some, and possibly most, of the ameliorative effects in psychotherapeutic interventionsâ.1 These factors include:client characteristics (eg, positive expectations and hope), therapist qualities (eg, the ability to cultivate positive client characteristics), change processes (eg, the acceptance of a theoretical rationale for the therapy on offer), treatment structure (eg, the delivery of concrete treatments and techniques) and therapeutic relationship (eg, the development of a working alliance between therapist and patient).1There are, therefore, common factors that help explain the efficacy of therapy that are incidental to cheap kamagra online the theory that grounds or explains the specific psychotherapeutic intervention. Since these incidental common factors â client characteristics, therapist qualities, and the therapeutic relationship â are necessary components to a sufficient understanding of the efficacy of psychotherapy, we can appreciate why proponents of open therapy want patients to be informed of these âincidentalâ common factors that explain why therapy works (when it does work).Lederâs response to open therapy, is to differentiate between mechanisms of change and mediators of change. The mechanisms of change amount to âthe reasons why change occurred or how change came aboutâ whereas the mediators are the âvariables that are statistically correlated with this changeâ.1 In Lederâs example of cognitive therapy, he cheap kamagra online explains that where a therapist seeks to address maladaptive cognitions (ie, thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions), the therapist may adopt techniques of âidentifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts and beliefs and training patients to challenge maladaptive patterns of thought (eg, all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophising, and overgeneralisation)â.1 In order to explain the therapy, the therapist may then make a âtheory-specific claimâ about the intervention, that it âworks by modifying maladaptive core beliefsâ.1 Leder argues that, while it remains true that the incidental common factors also explain âhow it worksâ, one is a mechanism for change (that needs to be explained to the patient), the others are mediators for the change.For Blease, this will not do. Her concern is that, given the enormous difficulty in isolating and testing the âefficacy of the so-called specific factors of any psychological modalityâ, it entirely plausible that the important agents of change are the mediators themselves, and the mechanisms may even be immaterial to the efficacy of any given therapy.2 Which is why âethicists have argued patients should know about themâ.2 According to Blease, until basic research can âtake up the batonâ and provide âa clear mechanistic explanation about how a treatment is effectiveâ,2 psychotherapy should be open therapy.Lederâs response to the problem of isolating and testing the efficacy of therapeutic interventions is also call for openness. But it is an openness about the uncertainty that surrounds the therapeutic intervention (the cheap kamagra online mechanism) itself.
Since âthere is currently no consensus about mechanisms of change in psychotherapyâ, Leder suggests that patients need to be informed that âthe therapy onâ¦is based on disputed theoretical foundationsâ and that âtheory-specific techniques are not necessary for healingâ.3 At dispute, therefore, is how open should open therapy be. An openness about what we know about how the therapeutic intervention (the mechanism) works or an cheap kamagra online openness about what we know about how therapy (the mechanism and the mediators) works.Both Leder and Blease seem to agree on one thing, at least. They agree on the question that needs to be answered. For them, it is the âhow does the therapy workâ question cheap kamagra online. For Leder, the answer lies in the mechanisms of change (the specific psychotherapeutic intervention).
For Blease, cheap kamagra online the answer must also include the mediators of change (the incidental common factors). Answering this question is then equated with providing informed consent. Now, if âexplaining efficacyâ amounts to âproviding informed consentâ then Blease might be on strong ground cheap kamagra online. But there may be a baton that needs to be taken up by ethicists. To clarify whether satisfying the ethical requirement of cheap kamagra online informed consent is the same as, or differs from, a scientific explanation of a treatmentâs efficacy.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.AbstractSeveral authors have recently argued that psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is deceptive and undermines patientsâ ability to give informed consent to treatment.
This âdeceptionâ claim is based on the findings that some, and possibly most, of the ameliorative effects in psychotherapeutic interventions are mediated by therapeutic common factors shared by successful treatments (eg, expectancy effects and therapist effects), rather than because of theory-specific techniques. These findings have led to claims that cheap kamagra online psychotherapy is, at least partly, likely a placebo, and that practitioners of psychotherapy have a duty to âgo openâ to patients about the role of common factors in therapy (even if this risks negatively affecting the efficacy of treatment). To not âgo openâ is supposed to unjustly restrict patientsâ autonomy. This paper makes two related arguments cheap kamagra online against the âgo openâ claim. (1) While therapies ought to provide patients with sufficient information to make informed treatment decisions, informed consent does not require that practitioners âgo openâ about therapeutic common factors in psychotherapy, and (2) clarity about the mechanisms of change in psychotherapy shows us that the common-factors findings are consistent with, rather than undermining of, the truth of many theory-specific forms of psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy, as it is commonly practiced, is not deceptive cheap kamagra online and is not a placebo. The call to âgo openâ should be resisted and may have serious detrimental effects on patients via the dissemination of a false view about how therapy works.psychotherapyinformed consentpaternalismethics.
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AbstractIntroduction http://mchtraducciones.com/buy-levitra-over-the-counter kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy. We report a very rare case of familial breast cancer and diffuse gastric cancer, with germline pathogenic variants in both BRCA1 and CDH1 genes. To the best kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy of our knowledge, this is the first report of such an association.Family description.
The proband is a woman diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 52 years. She requested genetic counselling in 2012, at the age of 91 years, because kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy of a history of breast cancer in her daughter, her sister, her niece and her paternal grandmother and was therefore concerned about her relatives. Her sister and maternal aunt also had gastric cancer.
She was tested for several genes associated with kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy hereditary breast cancer.Results. A large deletion of BRCA1 from exons 1 to 7 and two CDH1 pathogenic cis variants were identified.Conclusion. This complex situation is challenging for genetic kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy counselling and management of at-risk individuals.cancer.
Breastcancer. Gastricclinical geneticsgenetic screening/counsellingmolecular geneticsIntroductionGLI-Kruppel family member 3 (GLI3) encodes for a zinc finger transcription factor which plays a key role in the sonic hedgehog (SHH) signalling pathway essential in both limb and craniofacial development.1 2 In hand development, SHH is expressed in the zone of polarising activity (ZPA) on the posterior side of the handplate kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy. The ZPA expresses SHH, creating a gradient of SHH from the posterior to the anterior side of the handplate.
In the presence of SHH, full length GLI3-protein is produced (GLI3A), whereas absence of SHH causes cleavage of kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy GLI3 into its repressor form (GLI3R).3 4 Abnormal expression of this SHH/GLI3R gradient can cause both preaxial and postaxial polydactyly.2Concordantly, pathogenic DNA variants in the GLI3 gene are known to cause multiple syndromes with craniofacial and limb involvement, such as. Acrocallosal syndrome5 (OMIM. 200990), Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome6 (OMIM kamagra oral jelly canadian pharmacy.
175700) and Pallister-Hall syndrome7 (OMIM. 146510). Also, in non-syndromic polydactyly, such as preaxial polydactyly-type 4 (PPD4, OMIM.
174700),8 pathogenic variants in GLI3 have been described. Out of these diseases, Pallister-Hall syndrome is the most distinct entity, defined by the presence of central polydactyly and hypothalamic hamartoma.9 The other GLI3 syndromes are defined by the presence of preaxial and/or postaxial polydactyly of the hand and feet with or without syndactyly (Greig syndrome, PPD4). Also, various mild craniofacial features such as hypertelorism and macrocephaly can occur.
Pallister-Hall syndrome is caused by truncating variants in the middle third of the GLI3 gene.10â12 The truncation of GLI3 causes an overexpression of GLI3R, which is believed to be the key difference between Pallister-Hall and the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.9 11 Although multiple attempts have been made, the clinical and genetic distinction between the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes is less evident. This has for example led to the introduction of subGreig and the formulation of an Oro-facial-digital overlap syndrome.10 Other authors, suggested that we should not regard these diseases as separate entities, but as a spectrum of GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.13Although phenotype/genotype correlation of the different syndromes has been cumbersome, clinical and animal studies do provide evidence that distinct regions within the gene, could be related to the individual anomalies contributing to these syndromes. First, case studies show isolated preaxial polydactyly is caused by both truncating and non-truncating variants throughout the GLI3 gene, whereas in isolated postaxial polydactyly cases truncating variants at the C-terminal side of the gene are observed.12 14 These results suggest two different groups of variants for preaxial and postaxial polydactyly.
Second, recent animal studies suggest that posterior malformations in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes are likely related to a dosage effect of GLI3R rather than due to the influence of an altered GLI3A expression.15Past attempts for phenotype/genotype correlation in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes have directly related the diagnosed syndrome to the observed genotype.10â12 16 Focusing on individual hand phenotypes, such as preaxial and postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly might be more reliable because it prevents misclassification due to inconsistent use of syndrome definition. Subsequently, latent class analysis (LCA) provides the possibility to relate a group of observed variables to a set of latent, or unmeasured, parameters and thereby identifying different subgroups in the obtained dataset.17 As a result, LCA allows us to group different phenotypes within the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes and relate the most important predictors of the grouped phenotypes to the observed GLI3 variants.The aim of our study was to further investigate the correlation of the individual phenotypes to the genotypes observed in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, using LCA. Cases were obtained by both literature review and the inclusion of local clinical cases.
Subsequently, we identified two subclasses of limb anomalies that relate to the underlying GLI3 variant. We provide evidence for two different phenotypic and genotypic groups with predominantly preaxial and postaxial hand and feet anomalies, and we specify those cases with a higher risk for corpus callosum anomalies.MethodsLiterature reviewThe Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD Professional 2019) was reviewed to identify known pathogenic variants in GLI3 and corresponding phenotypes.18 All references were obtained and cases were included when they were diagnosed with either Greig or subGreig syndrome or PPD4.10â12 Pallister-Hall syndrome and acrocallosal syndrome were excluded because both are regarded distinct syndromes and rather defined by the presence of the non-hand anomalies, than the presence of preaxial or postaxial polydactyly.13 19 Isolated preaxial or postaxial polydactyly were excluded for two reasons. The phenotype/genotype correlations are better understood and both anomalies can occur sporadically which could introduce falsely assumed pathogenic GLI3 variants in the analysis.
Additionally, cases were excluded when case-specific phenotypic or genotypic information was not reported or if these two could not be related to each other. Families with a combined phenotypic description, not reducible to individual family members, were included as one case in the analysis.Clinical casesThe Sophia Childrenâs Hospital Database was reviewed for cases with a GLI3 variant. Within this population, the same inclusion criteria for the phenotype were valid.
Relatives of the index patients were also contacted for participation in this study, when they showed comparable hand, foot, or craniofacial malformations or when a GLI3 variant was identified. Phenotypes of the hand, foot and craniofacial anomalies of the patients treated in the Sophia Children's Hospital were collected using patient documentation. Family members were identified and if possible, clinically verified.
Alternatively, family members were contacted to verify their phenotypes. If no verification was possible, cases were excluded.PhenotypesThe phenotypes of both literature cases and local cases were extracted in a similar fashion. The most frequently reported limb and craniofacial phenotypes were dichotomised.
The dichotomised hand and foot phenotypes were preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly. Broad halluces or thumbs were commonly reported by authors and were dichotomised as a presentation of preaxial polydactyly. The extracted dichotomised craniofacial phenotypes were hypertelorism, macrocephaly and corpus callosum agenesis.
All other phenotypes were registered, but not dichotomised.Pathogenic GLI3 variantsAll GLI3 variants were extracted and checked using Alamut Visual V.2.14. If indicated, variants were renamed according to standard Human Genome Variation Society nomenclature.20 Variants were grouped in either missense, frameshift, nonsense or splice site variants. In the group of frameshift variants, a subgroup with possible splice site effect were identified for subgroup analysis when indicated.
Similarly, nonsense variants prone for nonsense mediated decay (NMD) and nonsense variants with experimentally confirmed NMD were identified.21 Deletions of multiple exons, CNVs and translocations were excluded for analysis. A full list of included mutations is available in the online supplementary materials.Supplemental materialThe location of the variant was compared with five known structural domains of the GLI3 gene. (1) repressor domain, (2) zinc finger domain, (3) cleavage site, (4) activator domain, which we defined as a concatenation of the separately identified transactivation zones, the CBP binding domain and the mediator binding domain (MBD) and (5) the MID1 interaction region domain.1 6 22â24 The boundaries of each of the domains were based on available literature (figure 1, exact locations available in the online supplementary materials).
The boundaries used by different authors did vary, therefore a consensus was made.In this figure the posterior probability of an anterior phenotype is plotted against the location of the variant, stratified for the type of mutation that was observed. For better overview, only variants with a location effect were displayed. The full figure, including all variant types, can be found in the online supplementary figure 1.
Each mutation is depicted as a dot, the size of the dot represents the number of observations for that variant. If multiple observations were made, the mean posterior odds and IQR are plotted. For the nonsense variants, variants that were predicted to produce nonsense mediated decay, are depicted using a triangle.
Again, the size indicates the number of observations." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 1 In this figure the posterior probability of an anterior phenotype is plotted against the location of the variant, stratified for the type of mutation that was observed. For better overview, only variants with a location effect were displayed. The full figure, including all variant types, can be found in the online supplementary figure 1.
Each mutation is depicted as a dot, the size of the dot represents the number of observations for that variant. If multiple observations were made, the mean posterior odds and IQR are plotted. For the nonsense variants, variants that were predicted to produce nonsense mediated decay, are depicted using a triangle.
Again, the size indicates the number of observations.Supplemental materialLatent class analysisTo cluster phenotypes and relate those to the genotypes of the patients, an explorative analysis was done using LCA in R (R V.3.6.1 for Mac. Polytomous variable LCA, poLCA V.1.4.1.). We used our LCA to detect the number of phenotypic subgroups in the dataset and subsequently predict a class membership for each case in the dataset based on the posterior probabilities.In order to make a reliable prediction, only phenotypes that were sufficiently reported and/or ruled out were feasible for LCA, limiting the analysis to preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly of the hands and feet.
Only full cases were included. To determine the optimal number of classes, we fitted a series of models ranging from a one-class to a six-class model. The optimal number of classes was based on the conditional Akaike information criterion (cAIC), the non adjusted and the sample-size adjusted Bayesian information criterion (BIC and aBIC) and the obtained entropy.25 The explorative LCA produces both posterior probabilities per case for both classes and predicted class membership.
Using the predicted class membership, the phenotypic features per class were determined in a univariate analysis (Ï2, SPSS V.25). Using the posterior probabilities on latent class (LC) membership, a scatter plot was created using the location of the variant on the x-axis and the probability of class membership on the y-axis for each of the types of variants (Tibco Spotfire V.7.14). Using these scatter plots, variants that give similar phenotypes were clustered.Genotype/phenotype correlationBecause an LC has no clinical value, the correlation between genotypes and phenotypes was investigated using the predictor phenotypes and the clustered phenotypes.
First, those phenotypes that contribute most to LC membership were identified. Second those phenotypes were directly related to the different types of variants (missense, nonsense, frameshift, splice site) and their clustered locations. Quantification of the relation was performed using a univariate analysis using a Ï2 test.
Because of our selection criteria, meaning patients at least have two phenotypes, a multivariate using a logistic regression analysis was used to detect the most significant predictors in the overall phenotype (SPSS V.25). Finally, we explored the relation of the clustered genotypes to the presence of corpus callosum agenesis, a rare malformation in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes which cannot be readily diagnosed without additional imaging.ResultsWe included 251 patients from the literature and 46 local patients,10â12 16 21 26â43 in total 297 patients from 155 different families with 127 different GLI3 variants, 32 of which were large deletions, CNVs or translocations. In six local cases, the exact variant could not be retrieved by status research.The distribution of the most frequently observed phenotypes and variants are presented in table 1.
Other recurring phenotypes included developmental delay (n=22), broad nasal root (n=23), frontal bossing or prominent forehead (n=16) and craniosynostosis (n=13), camptodactyly (n=8) and a broad first interdigital webspace of the foot (n=6).View this table:Table 1 Baseline phenotypes and genotypes of selected populationThe LCA model was fitted using the six defined hand/foot phenotypes. Model fit indices for the LCA are displayed in table 2. Based on the BIC, a two-class model has the best fit for our data.
The four-class model does show a gain in entropy, however with a higher BIC and loss of df. Therefore, based on the majority of performance statistics and the interpretability of the model, a two-class model was chosen. Table 3 displays the distribution of phenotypes and genotypes over the two classes.View this table:Table 2 Model fit indices for the one-class through six-class model evaluated in our LCAView this table:Table 3 Distribution of phenotypes and genotypes in the two latent classes (LC)Table 1 depicts the baseline phenotypes and genotypes in the obtained population.
Note incomplete data especially in the cranium phenotypes. In total 259 valid genotypes were present. In total, 289 cases had complete data for all hand and foot phenotypes (preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly) and thus were available for LCA.
Combined, for phenotype/genotype correlation 258 cases were available with complete genotypes and complete hand and foot phenotypes.Table 2 depicts the model fit indices for all models that have been fitted to our data.Table 3 depicts the distribution of phenotypes and genotypes over the two assigned LCs. Hand and foot phenotypes were used as input for the LCA, thus are all complete cases. Malformation of the cranium and genotypes do have missing cases.
Note that for the LCA, full case description was required, resulting in eight cases due to incomplete phenotypes. Out of these eight, one also had a genotype that thus needed to be excluded. Missingness of genotypic data was higher in LC2, mostly due to CNVs (table 1).In 54/60 cases, a missense variant produced a posterior phenotype.
Likewise, splice site variants show the same phenotype in 23/24 cases (table 3). For both frameshift and nonsense variants, this relation is not significant (52 anterior vs 54 posterior and 26 anterior vs 42 posterior, respectively). Therefore, only for nonsense and frameshift variants the location of the variant was plotted against the probability for LC2 membership in figure 1.
A full scatterplot of all variants is available in online supplementary figure 1.Figure 1 reveals a pattern for these nonsense and frameshift variants that reveals that variants at the C-terminal of the gene predict anterior phenotypes. When relating the domains of the GLI3 protein to the observed phenotype, we observe that the majority of patients with a nonsense or frameshift variant in the repressor domain, the zinc finger domain or the cleavage site had a high probability of an LC2/anterior phenotype. This group contains all variants that are either experimentally determined to be subject to NMD (triangle marker in figure 1) or predicted to be subject to NMD (diamond marker in figure 1).
Frameshift and nonsense variants in the activator domain result in high probability for an LC1/posterior phenotype. These variants will be further referred to as truncating variants in the activator domain.The univariate relation of the individual phenotypes to these two groups of variants are estimated and presented in table 4. In our multivariate analysis, postaxial polydactyly of the foot and hand are the strongest predictors (Beta.
2.548, p<0001âand Beta. 1.47, p=0.013, respectively) for patients to have a truncating variant in the activator domain. Moreover, the effect sizes of preaxial polydactyly of the hand and feet (Beta.
Â0.797, p=0123âand â1.772, p=0.001) reveals that especially postaxial polydactyly of the foot is the dominant predictor for the genetic substrate of the observed anomalies.View this table:Table 4 Univariate and multivariate analysis of the phenotype/genotype correlationTable 4 shows exploration of the individual phenotypes on the genotype, both univariate and multivariate. The multivariate analysis corrects for the presence of multiple phenotypes in the underlying population.Although the craniofacial anomalies could not be included in the LCA, the relation between the observed anomalies and the identified genetic substrates can be studied. The prevalence of hypertelorism was equally distributed over the two groups of variants (47/135 vs 21/47 respectively, p<0.229).
However for corpus callosum agenesis and macrocephaly, there was a higher prevalence in patients with a truncating variant in the activator domain (3/75 vs 11/41, p<0.001. OR. 8.8, p<0.001) and 42/123 vs 24/48, p<0.05).
Noteworthy is the fact that 11/14 cases with corpus callosum agenesis in the dataset had a truncating variant in the activator domain.DiscussionIn this report, we present new insights into the correlation between the phenotype and the genotype in patients with GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes. We illustrate that there are two LCs of patients, best predicted by postaxial polydactyly of the hand and foot for LC1, and the preaxial polydactyly of the hand and foot and syndactyly of the foot for LC2. Patients with postaxial phenotypes have a higher risk of having a truncating variant in the activator domain of the GLI3 gene which is also related to a higher risk of corpus callosum agenesis.
These results suggest a functional difference between truncating variants on the N-terminal and the C-terminal side of the GLI3 cleavage site.Previous attempts of phenotype to genotype correlation have not yet provided the clinical confirmation of these assumed mechanisms in the pathophysiology of GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes. Johnston et al have successfully determined the Pallister-Hall region in which truncating variants produce a Pallister-Hall phenotype rather than Greig syndrome.11 However, in their latest population study, subtypes of both syndromes were included to explain the full spectrum of observed malformations. In 2015, Demurger et al reported the higher incidence of corpus callosum agenesis in the Greig syndrome population with truncating mutations in the activator domain.12 Al-Qattan in his review summarises the concept of a spectrum of anomalies dependent on haplo-insufficiency (through different mechanisms) and repressor overexpression.13 However, he bases this theory mainly on reviewed experimental data.
Our report is the first to provide an extensive clinical review of cases that substantiate the phenotypic difference between the two groups that could fit the suggested mechanisms. We agree with Al-Qattan et al that a variation of anomalies can be observed given any pathogenic variant in the GLI3 gene, but overall two dominant phenotypes are present. A population with predominantly preaxial anomalies and one with postaxial anomalies.
The presence of preaxial or postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly is not mutually exclusive for one of these two subclasses. Meaning that preaxial polydactyly can co-occur with postaxial polydactyly. However, truncating mutations in the activator domain produce a postaxial phenotype, as can be derived from the risk in table 4.
The higher risk of corpus callosum agenesis in this population shows that differentiating between a preaxial phenotype and a postaxial phenotype, instead of between the different GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, might be more relevant regarding diagnostics for corpus callosum agenesis.We chose to use LCA as an exploratory tool only in our population for two reasons. First of all, LCA can be useful to identify subgroups, but there is no âtrueâ model or number of subgroups you can detect. The best fitting model can only be estimated based on the available measures and approximates the true subgroups that might be present.
Second, LC membership assignment is a statistical procedure based on the posterior probability, with concordant errors of the estimation, rather than a clinical value that can be measured or evaluated. Therefore, we decided to use our LCA only in an exploratory tool, and perform our statistics using the actual phenotypes that predict LC membership and the associated genotypes. Overall, this method worked well to differentiate the two subgroups present in our dataset.
However, outliers were observed. A qualitative analysis of these outliers is available in the online supplementary data.The genetic substrate for the two phenotypic clusters can be discussed based on multiple experiments. Overall, we hypothesise two genetic clusters.
One that is due to haploinsufficiency and one that is due to abnormal truncation of the activator. The hypothesised cluster of variants that produce haploinsufficiency is mainly based on the experimental data that confirms NMD in two variants and the NMD prediction of other nonsense variants in Alamut. For the frameshift variants, it is also likely that the cleavage of the zinc finger domain results in functional haploinsufficiency either because of a lack of signalling domains or similarly due to NMD.
Missense variants could cause haploinsufficiency through the suggested mechanism by Krauss et al who have illustrated that missense variants in the MID1 domain hamper the functional interaction with the MID1-α4-PP2A complex, leading to a subcellular location of GLI3.24 The observed missense variants in our study exceed the region to which Krauss et al have limited the MID-1 interaction domain. An alternative theory is suggested by Zhou et al who have shown that missense variants in the MBD can cause deficiency in the signalling of GLI3A, functionally implicating a relative overexpression of GLI3R.22 However, GLI3R overexpression would likely produce a posterior phenotype, as determined by Hill et al in their fixed homo and hemizygous GLI3R models.15 Therefore, our hypothesis is that all included missense variants have a similar pathogenesis which is more likely in concordance with the mechanism introduced by Krauss et al. To our knowledge, no splice site variants have been functionally described in literature.
However, it is noted that the 15 and last exon encompasses the entire activator domain, thus any splice site mutation is by definition located on the 5â² side of the activator. Based on the phenotype, we would suggest that these variants fail to produce a functional protein. We hypothesise that the truncating variants of the activator domain lead to overexpression of GLI3R in SHH rich areas.
In normal development, the presence of SHH prevents the processing of full length GLI34 into GLI3R, thus producing the full length activator. In patients with a truncating variant of the activator domain of GLI3, thus these variants likely have the largest effect in SHH rich areas, such as the ZPA located at the posterior side of the hand/footplate. Moreover, the lack of posterior anomalies in the GLI3â699/- mouse model (hemizygous fixed repressor model) compared with the GLI3â699/â699 mouse model (homozygous fixed repressor model), suggesting a dosage effect of GLI3R to be responsible for posterior hand anomalies.15 These findings are supported by Lewandowski et al, who show that the majority of the target genes in GLI signalling are regulated by GLI3R rather than GLI3A.44 Together, these findings suggest a role for the location and type of variant in GLI3-mediated syndromes.Interestingly, the difference between Pallister-Hall syndrome and GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes has also been attributed to the GLI3R overexpression.
However, the difference in phenotype observed in the cases with a truncating variant in the activator domain and Pallister-Hall syndrome suggest different functional consequences. When studying figure 1, it is noted that the included truncating variants on the 3â² side of the cleavage site seldomly affect the CBP binding region, which could provide an explanation for the observed differences. This binding region is included in the Pallister-Hall region as defined by Johnston et al and is necessary for the downstream signalling with GLI1.10 11 23 45 Interestingly, recent reports show that pathogenic variants in GLI1 can produce phenotypes concordant with Ellis von Krefeld syndrome, which includes overlapping features with Pallister-Hall syndrome.46 The four truncating variants observed in this study that do affect the CBP but did not result in a Pallister-Hall phenotype are conflicting with this theory.
Krauss et al postulate an alternative hypothesis, they state that the MID1-α4-PP2A complex, which is essential for GLI3A signalling, could also be the reason for overlapping features of Opitz syndrome, caused by variants in MID1, and Pallister-Hall syndrome. Further analysis is required to fully appreciate the functional differences between truncating mutations that cause Pallister-Hall syndrome and those that result in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.For the clinical evaluation of patients with GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, intracranial anomalies are likely the most important to predict based on the variant. Unfortunately, the presence of corpus callosum agenesis was not routinely investigated or reported thus this feature could not be used as an indicator phenotype for LC membership.
Interestingly when using only hand and foot phenotypes, we did notice a higher prevalence of corpus callosum agenesis in patients with posterior phenotypes. The suggested relation between truncating mutations in the activator domain causing these posterior phenotypes and corpus callosum agenesis was statistically confirmed (OR. 8.8, p<0.001).
Functionally this relation could be caused by the GLI3-MED12 interaction at the MBD. Pathogenic DNA variants in MED12 can cause Opitz-Kaveggia syndrome, a syndrome in which presentation includes corpus callosum agenesis, broad halluces and thumbs.47In conclusion, there are two distinct phenotypes within the GLI3-mediated polydactyly population. Patients with more posteriorly and more anteriorly oriented hand anomalies.
Furthermore, this difference is related to the observed variant in GLI3. We hypothesise that variants that cause haploinsufficiency produce anterior anomalies of the hand, whereas variants with abnormal truncation of the activator domain have more posterior anomalies. Furthermore, patients that have a variant that produces abnormal truncation of the activator domain, have a greater risk for corpus callosum agenesis.
Thus, we advocate to differentiate preaxial or postaxial oriented GLI3 phenotypes to explain the pathophysiology as well as to get a risk assessment for corpus callosum agenesis.Data availability statementData are available upon reasonable request.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.Ethics approvalThe research protocol was approved by the local ethics board of the Erasmus MC University Medical Center (MEC 2015-679)..
AbstractIntroduction. We report a very rare case of familial breast cancer and diffuse gastric cancer, with germline pathogenic variants in both BRCA1 and CDH1 genes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such an association.Family description. The proband is a woman diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 52 years.
She requested genetic counselling in 2012, at the age of 91 years, because of a history of breast cancer in her daughter, her sister, her niece and her paternal grandmother and was therefore concerned about her relatives. Her sister and maternal aunt also had gastric cancer. She was tested for several genes associated with hereditary breast cancer.Results. A large deletion of BRCA1 from exons 1 to 7 and two CDH1 pathogenic cis variants were identified.Conclusion.
This complex situation is challenging for genetic counselling and management of at-risk individuals.cancer. Breastcancer. Gastricclinical geneticsgenetic screening/counsellingmolecular geneticsIntroductionGLI-Kruppel family member 3 (GLI3) encodes for a zinc finger transcription factor which plays a key role in the sonic hedgehog (SHH) signalling pathway essential in both limb and craniofacial development.1 2 In hand development, SHH is expressed in the zone of polarising activity (ZPA) on the posterior side of the handplate. The ZPA expresses SHH, creating a gradient of SHH from the posterior to the anterior side of the handplate.
In the presence of SHH, full length GLI3-protein is produced (GLI3A), whereas absence of SHH causes cleavage of GLI3 into its repressor form (GLI3R).3 4 Abnormal expression of this SHH/GLI3R gradient can cause both preaxial and postaxial polydactyly.2Concordantly, pathogenic DNA variants in the GLI3 gene are known to cause multiple syndromes with craniofacial and limb involvement, such as. Acrocallosal syndrome5 (OMIM. 200990), Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome6 (OMIM. 175700) and Pallister-Hall syndrome7 (OMIM.
146510). Also, in non-syndromic polydactyly, such as preaxial polydactyly-type 4 (PPD4, OMIM. 174700),8 pathogenic variants in GLI3 have been described. Out of these diseases, Pallister-Hall syndrome is the most distinct entity, defined by the presence of central polydactyly and hypothalamic hamartoma.9 The other GLI3 syndromes are defined by the presence of preaxial and/or postaxial polydactyly of the hand and feet with or without syndactyly (Greig syndrome, PPD4).
Also, various mild craniofacial features such as hypertelorism and macrocephaly can occur. Pallister-Hall syndrome is caused by truncating variants in the middle third of the GLI3 gene.10â12 The truncation of GLI3 causes an overexpression of GLI3R, which is believed to be the key difference between Pallister-Hall and the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.9 11 Although multiple attempts have been made, the clinical and genetic distinction between the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes is less evident. This has for example led to the introduction of subGreig and the formulation of an Oro-facial-digital overlap syndrome.10 Other authors, suggested that we should not regard these diseases as separate entities, but as a spectrum of GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.13Although phenotype/genotype correlation of the different syndromes has been cumbersome, clinical and animal studies do provide evidence that distinct regions within the gene, could be related to the individual anomalies contributing to these syndromes. First, case studies show isolated preaxial polydactyly is caused by both truncating and non-truncating variants throughout the GLI3 gene, whereas in isolated postaxial polydactyly cases truncating variants at the C-terminal side of the gene are observed.12 14 These results suggest two different groups of variants for preaxial and postaxial polydactyly.
Second, recent animal studies suggest that posterior malformations in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes are likely related to a dosage effect of GLI3R rather than due to the influence of an altered GLI3A expression.15Past attempts for phenotype/genotype correlation in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes have directly related the diagnosed syndrome to the observed genotype.10â12 16 Focusing on individual hand phenotypes, such as preaxial and postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly might be more reliable because it prevents misclassification due to inconsistent use of syndrome definition. Subsequently, latent class analysis (LCA) provides the possibility to relate a group of observed variables to a set of latent, or unmeasured, parameters and thereby identifying different subgroups in the obtained dataset.17 As a result, LCA allows us to group different phenotypes within the GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes and relate the most important predictors of the grouped phenotypes to the observed GLI3 variants.The aim of our study was to further investigate the correlation of the individual phenotypes to the genotypes observed in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, using LCA. Cases were obtained by both literature review and the inclusion of local clinical cases. Subsequently, we identified two subclasses of limb anomalies that relate to the underlying GLI3 variant.
We provide evidence for two different phenotypic and genotypic groups with predominantly preaxial and postaxial hand and feet anomalies, and we specify those cases with a higher risk for corpus callosum anomalies.MethodsLiterature reviewThe Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD Professional 2019) was reviewed to identify known pathogenic variants in GLI3 and corresponding phenotypes.18 All references were obtained and cases were included when they were diagnosed with either Greig or subGreig syndrome or PPD4.10â12 Pallister-Hall syndrome and acrocallosal syndrome were excluded because both are regarded distinct syndromes and rather defined by the presence of the non-hand anomalies, than the presence of preaxial or postaxial polydactyly.13 19 Isolated preaxial or postaxial polydactyly were excluded for two reasons. The phenotype/genotype correlations are better understood and both anomalies can occur sporadically which could introduce falsely assumed pathogenic GLI3 variants in the analysis. Additionally, cases were excluded when case-specific phenotypic or genotypic information was not reported or if these two could not be related to each other. Families with a combined phenotypic description, not reducible to individual family members, were included as one case in the analysis.Clinical casesThe Sophia Childrenâs Hospital Database was reviewed for cases with a GLI3 variant.
Within this population, the same inclusion criteria for the phenotype were valid. Relatives of the index patients were also contacted for participation in this study, when they showed comparable hand, foot, or craniofacial malformations or when a GLI3 variant was identified. Phenotypes of the hand, foot and craniofacial anomalies of the patients treated in the Sophia Children's Hospital were collected using patient documentation. Family members were identified and if possible, clinically verified.
Alternatively, family members were contacted to verify their phenotypes. If no verification was possible, cases were excluded.PhenotypesThe phenotypes of both literature cases and local cases were extracted in a similar fashion. The most frequently reported limb and craniofacial phenotypes were dichotomised. The dichotomised hand and foot phenotypes were preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly.
Broad halluces or thumbs were commonly reported by authors and were dichotomised as a presentation of preaxial polydactyly. The extracted dichotomised craniofacial phenotypes were hypertelorism, macrocephaly and corpus callosum agenesis. All other phenotypes were registered, but not dichotomised.Pathogenic GLI3 variantsAll GLI3 variants were extracted and checked using Alamut Visual V.2.14. If indicated, variants were renamed according to standard Human Genome Variation Society nomenclature.20 Variants were grouped in either missense, frameshift, nonsense or splice site variants.
In the group of frameshift variants, a subgroup with possible splice site effect were identified for subgroup analysis when indicated. Similarly, nonsense variants prone for nonsense mediated decay (NMD) and nonsense variants with experimentally confirmed NMD were identified.21 Deletions of multiple exons, CNVs and translocations were excluded for analysis. A full list of included mutations is available in the online supplementary materials.Supplemental materialThe location of the variant was compared with five known structural domains of the GLI3 gene. (1) repressor domain, (2) zinc finger domain, (3) cleavage site, (4) activator domain, which we defined as a concatenation of the separately identified transactivation zones, the CBP binding domain and the mediator binding domain (MBD) and (5) the MID1 interaction region domain.1 6 22â24 The boundaries of each of the domains were based on available literature (figure 1, exact locations available in the online supplementary materials).
The boundaries used by different authors did vary, therefore a consensus was made.In this figure the posterior probability of an anterior phenotype is plotted against the location of the variant, stratified for the type of mutation that was observed. For better overview, only variants with a location effect were displayed. The full figure, including all variant types, can be found in the online supplementary figure 1. Each mutation is depicted as a dot, the size of the dot represents the number of observations for that variant.
If multiple observations were made, the mean posterior odds and IQR are plotted. For the nonsense variants, variants that were predicted to produce nonsense mediated decay, are depicted using a triangle. Again, the size indicates the number of observations." data-icon-position data-hide-link-title="0">Figure 1 In this figure the posterior probability of an anterior phenotype is plotted against the location of the variant, stratified for the type of mutation that was observed. For better overview, only variants with a location effect were displayed.
The full figure, including all variant types, can be found in the online supplementary figure 1. Each mutation is depicted as a dot, the size of the dot represents the number of observations for that variant. If multiple observations were made, the mean posterior odds and IQR are plotted. For the nonsense variants, variants that were predicted to produce nonsense mediated decay, are depicted using a triangle.
Again, the size indicates the number of observations.Supplemental materialLatent class analysisTo cluster phenotypes and relate those to the genotypes of the patients, an explorative analysis was done using LCA in R (R V.3.6.1 for Mac. Polytomous variable LCA, poLCA V.1.4.1.). We used our LCA to detect the number of phenotypic subgroups in the dataset and subsequently predict a class membership for each case in the dataset based on the posterior probabilities.In order to make a reliable prediction, only phenotypes that were sufficiently reported and/or ruled out were feasible for LCA, limiting the analysis to preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly of the hands and feet. Only full cases were included.
To determine the optimal number of classes, we fitted a series of models ranging from a one-class to a six-class model. The optimal number of classes was based on the conditional Akaike information criterion (cAIC), the non adjusted and the sample-size adjusted Bayesian information criterion (BIC and aBIC) and the obtained entropy.25 The explorative LCA produces both posterior probabilities per case for both classes and predicted class membership. Using the predicted class membership, the phenotypic features per class were determined in a univariate analysis (Ï2, SPSS V.25). Using the posterior probabilities on latent class (LC) membership, a scatter plot was created using the location of the variant on the x-axis and the probability of class membership on the y-axis for each of the types of variants (Tibco Spotfire V.7.14).
Using these scatter plots, variants that give similar phenotypes were clustered.Genotype/phenotype correlationBecause an LC has no clinical value, the correlation between genotypes and phenotypes was investigated using the predictor phenotypes and the clustered phenotypes. First, those phenotypes that contribute most to LC membership were identified. Second those phenotypes were directly related to the different types of variants (missense, nonsense, frameshift, splice site) and their clustered locations. Quantification of the relation was performed using a univariate analysis using a Ï2 test.
Because of our selection criteria, meaning patients at least have two phenotypes, a multivariate using a logistic regression analysis was used to detect the most significant predictors in the overall phenotype (SPSS V.25). Finally, we explored the relation of the clustered genotypes to the presence of corpus callosum agenesis, a rare malformation in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes which cannot be readily diagnosed without additional imaging.ResultsWe included 251 patients from the literature and 46 local patients,10â12 16 21 26â43 in total 297 patients from 155 different families with 127 different GLI3 variants, 32 of which were large deletions, CNVs or translocations. In six local cases, the exact variant could not be retrieved by status research.The distribution of the most frequently observed phenotypes and variants are presented in table 1. Other recurring phenotypes included developmental delay (n=22), broad nasal root (n=23), frontal bossing or prominent forehead (n=16) and craniosynostosis (n=13), camptodactyly (n=8) and a broad first interdigital webspace of the foot (n=6).View this table:Table 1 Baseline phenotypes and genotypes of selected populationThe LCA model was fitted using the six defined hand/foot phenotypes.
Model fit indices for the LCA are displayed in table 2. Based on the BIC, a two-class model has the best fit for our data. The four-class model does show a gain in entropy, however with a higher BIC and loss of df. Therefore, based on the majority of performance statistics and the interpretability of the model, a two-class model was chosen.
Table 3 displays the distribution of phenotypes and genotypes over the two classes.View this table:Table 2 Model fit indices for the one-class through six-class model evaluated in our LCAView this table:Table 3 Distribution of phenotypes and genotypes in the two latent classes (LC)Table 1 depicts the baseline phenotypes and genotypes in the obtained population. Note incomplete data especially in the cranium phenotypes. In total 259 valid genotypes were present. In total, 289 cases had complete data for all hand and foot phenotypes (preaxial polydactyly, postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly) and thus were available for LCA.
Combined, for phenotype/genotype correlation 258 cases were available with complete genotypes and complete hand and foot phenotypes.Table 2 depicts the model fit indices for all models that have been fitted to our data.Table 3 depicts the distribution of phenotypes and genotypes over the two assigned LCs. Hand and foot phenotypes were used as input for the LCA, thus are all complete cases. Malformation of the cranium and genotypes do have missing cases. Note that for the LCA, full case description was required, resulting in eight cases due to incomplete phenotypes.
Out of these eight, one also had a genotype that thus needed to be excluded. Missingness of genotypic data was higher in LC2, mostly due to CNVs (table 1).In 54/60 cases, a missense variant produced a posterior phenotype. Likewise, splice site variants show the same phenotype in 23/24 cases (table 3). For both frameshift and nonsense variants, this relation is not significant (52 anterior vs 54 posterior and 26 anterior vs 42 posterior, respectively).
Therefore, only for nonsense and frameshift variants the location of the variant was plotted against the probability for LC2 membership in figure 1. A full scatterplot of all variants is available in online supplementary figure 1.Figure 1 reveals a pattern for these nonsense and frameshift variants that reveals that variants at the C-terminal of the gene predict anterior phenotypes. When relating the domains of the GLI3 protein to the observed phenotype, we observe that the majority of patients with a nonsense or frameshift variant in the repressor domain, the zinc finger domain or the cleavage site had a high probability of an LC2/anterior phenotype. This group contains all variants that are either experimentally determined to be subject to NMD (triangle marker in figure 1) or predicted to be subject to NMD (diamond marker in figure 1).
Frameshift and nonsense variants in the activator domain result in high probability for an LC1/posterior phenotype. These variants will be further referred to as truncating variants in the activator domain.The univariate relation of the individual phenotypes to these two groups of variants are estimated and presented in table 4. In our multivariate analysis, postaxial polydactyly of the foot and hand are the strongest predictors (Beta. 2.548, p<0001âand Beta.
1.47, p=0.013, respectively) for patients to have a truncating variant in the activator domain. Moreover, the effect sizes of preaxial polydactyly of the hand and feet (Beta. Â0.797, p=0123âand â1.772, p=0.001) reveals that especially postaxial polydactyly of the foot is the dominant predictor for the genetic substrate of the observed anomalies.View this table:Table 4 Univariate and multivariate analysis of the phenotype/genotype correlationTable 4 shows exploration of the individual phenotypes on the genotype, both univariate and multivariate. The multivariate analysis corrects for the presence of multiple phenotypes in the underlying population.Although the craniofacial anomalies could not be included in the LCA, the relation between the observed anomalies and the identified genetic substrates can be studied.
The prevalence of hypertelorism was equally distributed over the two groups of variants (47/135 vs 21/47 respectively, p<0.229). However for corpus callosum agenesis and macrocephaly, there was a higher prevalence in patients with a truncating variant in the activator domain (3/75 vs 11/41, p<0.001. OR. 8.8, p<0.001) and 42/123 vs 24/48, p<0.05).
Noteworthy is the fact that 11/14 cases with corpus callosum agenesis in the dataset had a truncating variant in the activator domain.DiscussionIn this report, we present new insights into the correlation between the phenotype and the genotype in patients with GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes. We illustrate that there are two LCs of patients, best predicted by postaxial polydactyly of the hand and foot for LC1, and the preaxial polydactyly of the hand and foot and syndactyly of the foot for LC2. Patients with postaxial phenotypes have a higher risk of having a truncating variant in the activator domain of the GLI3 gene which is also related to a higher risk of corpus callosum agenesis. These results suggest a functional difference between truncating variants on the N-terminal and the C-terminal side of the GLI3 cleavage site.Previous attempts of phenotype to genotype correlation have not yet provided the clinical confirmation of these assumed mechanisms in the pathophysiology of GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.
Johnston et al have successfully determined the Pallister-Hall region in which truncating variants produce a Pallister-Hall phenotype rather than Greig syndrome.11 However, in their latest population study, subtypes of both syndromes were included to explain the full spectrum of observed malformations. In 2015, Demurger et al reported the higher incidence of corpus callosum agenesis in the Greig syndrome population with truncating mutations in the activator domain.12 Al-Qattan in his review summarises the concept of a spectrum of anomalies dependent on haplo-insufficiency (through different mechanisms) and repressor overexpression.13 However, he bases this theory mainly on reviewed experimental data. Our report is the first to provide an extensive clinical review of cases that substantiate the phenotypic difference between the two groups that could fit the suggested mechanisms. We agree with Al-Qattan et al that a variation of anomalies can be observed given any pathogenic variant in the GLI3 gene, but overall two dominant phenotypes are present.
A population with predominantly preaxial anomalies and one with postaxial anomalies. The presence of preaxial or postaxial polydactyly and syndactyly is not mutually exclusive for one of these two subclasses. Meaning that preaxial polydactyly can co-occur with postaxial polydactyly. However, truncating mutations in the activator domain produce a postaxial phenotype, as can be derived from the risk in table 4.
The higher risk of corpus callosum agenesis in this population shows that differentiating between a preaxial phenotype and a postaxial phenotype, instead of between the different GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, might be more relevant regarding diagnostics for corpus callosum agenesis.We chose to use LCA as an exploratory tool only in our population for two reasons. First of all, LCA can be useful to identify subgroups, but there is no âtrueâ model or number of subgroups you can detect. The best fitting model can only be estimated based on the available measures and approximates the true subgroups that might be present. Second, LC membership assignment is a statistical procedure based on the posterior probability, with concordant errors of the estimation, rather than a clinical value that can be measured or evaluated.
Therefore, we decided to use our LCA only in an exploratory tool, and perform our statistics using the actual phenotypes that predict LC membership and the associated genotypes. Overall, this method worked well to differentiate the two subgroups present in our dataset. However, outliers were observed. A qualitative analysis of these outliers is available in the online supplementary data.The genetic substrate for the two phenotypic clusters can be discussed based on multiple experiments.
Overall, we hypothesise two genetic clusters. One that is due to haploinsufficiency and one that is due to abnormal truncation of the activator. The hypothesised cluster of variants that produce haploinsufficiency is mainly based on the experimental data that confirms NMD in two variants and the NMD prediction of other nonsense variants in Alamut. For the frameshift variants, it is also likely that the cleavage of the zinc finger domain results in functional haploinsufficiency either because of a lack of signalling domains or similarly due to NMD.
Missense variants could cause haploinsufficiency through the suggested mechanism by Krauss et al who have illustrated that missense variants in the MID1 domain hamper the functional interaction with the MID1-α4-PP2A complex, leading to a subcellular location of GLI3.24 The observed missense variants in our study exceed the region to which Krauss et al have limited the MID-1 interaction domain. An alternative theory is suggested by Zhou et al who have shown that missense variants in the MBD can cause deficiency in the signalling of GLI3A, functionally implicating a relative overexpression of GLI3R.22 However, GLI3R overexpression would likely produce a posterior phenotype, as determined by Hill et al in their fixed homo and hemizygous GLI3R models.15 Therefore, our hypothesis is that all included missense variants have a similar pathogenesis which is more likely in concordance with the mechanism introduced by Krauss et al. To our knowledge, no splice site variants have been functionally described in literature. However, it is noted that the 15 and last exon encompasses the entire activator domain, thus any splice site mutation is by definition located on the 5Ⲡside of the activator.
Based on the phenotype, we would suggest that these variants fail to produce a functional protein. We hypothesise that the truncating variants of the activator domain lead to overexpression of GLI3R in SHH rich areas. In normal development, the presence of SHH prevents the processing of full length GLI34 into GLI3R, thus producing the full length activator. In patients with a truncating variant of the activator domain of GLI3, thus these variants likely have the largest effect in SHH rich areas, such as the ZPA located at the posterior side of the hand/footplate.
Moreover, the lack of posterior anomalies in the GLI3â699/- mouse model (hemizygous fixed repressor model) compared with the GLI3â699/â699 mouse model (homozygous fixed repressor model), suggesting a dosage effect of GLI3R to be responsible for posterior hand anomalies.15 These findings are supported by Lewandowski et al, who show that the majority of the target genes in GLI signalling are regulated by GLI3R rather than GLI3A.44 Together, these findings suggest a role for the location and type of variant in GLI3-mediated syndromes.Interestingly, the difference between Pallister-Hall syndrome and GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes has also been attributed to the GLI3R overexpression. However, the difference in phenotype observed in the cases with a truncating variant in the activator domain and Pallister-Hall syndrome suggest different functional consequences. When studying figure 1, it is noted that the included truncating variants on the 3â² side of the cleavage site seldomly affect the CBP binding region, which could provide an explanation for the observed differences. This binding region is included in the Pallister-Hall region as defined by Johnston et al and is necessary for the downstream signalling with GLI1.10 11 23 45 Interestingly, recent reports show that pathogenic variants in GLI1 can produce phenotypes concordant with Ellis von Krefeld syndrome, which includes overlapping features with Pallister-Hall syndrome.46 The four truncating variants observed in this study that do affect the CBP but did not result in a Pallister-Hall phenotype are conflicting with this theory.
Krauss et al postulate an alternative hypothesis, they state that the MID1-α4-PP2A complex, which is essential for GLI3A signalling, could also be the reason for overlapping features of Opitz syndrome, caused by variants in MID1, and Pallister-Hall syndrome. Further analysis is required to fully appreciate the functional differences between truncating mutations that cause Pallister-Hall syndrome and those that result in GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes.For the clinical evaluation of patients with GLI3-mediated polydactyly syndromes, intracranial anomalies are likely the most important to predict based on the variant. Unfortunately, the presence of corpus callosum agenesis was not routinely investigated or reported thus this feature could not be used as an indicator phenotype for LC membership. Interestingly when using only hand and foot phenotypes, we did notice a higher prevalence of corpus callosum agenesis in patients with posterior phenotypes.
The suggested relation between truncating mutations in the activator domain causing these posterior phenotypes and corpus callosum agenesis was statistically confirmed (OR. 8.8, p<0.001). Functionally this relation could be caused by the GLI3-MED12 interaction at the MBD. Pathogenic DNA variants in MED12 can cause Opitz-Kaveggia syndrome, a syndrome in which presentation includes corpus callosum agenesis, broad halluces and thumbs.47In conclusion, there are two distinct phenotypes within the GLI3-mediated polydactyly population.
Patients with more posteriorly and more anteriorly oriented hand anomalies. Furthermore, this difference is related to the observed variant in GLI3. We hypothesise that variants that cause haploinsufficiency produce anterior anomalies of the hand, whereas variants with abnormal truncation of the activator domain have more posterior anomalies. Furthermore, patients that have a variant that produces abnormal truncation of the activator domain, have a greater risk for corpus callosum agenesis.
Thus, we advocate to differentiate preaxial or postaxial oriented GLI3 phenotypes to explain the pathophysiology as well as to get a risk assessment for corpus callosum agenesis.Data availability statementData are available upon reasonable request.Ethics statementsPatient consent for publicationNot required.Ethics approvalThe research protocol was approved by the local ethics board of the Erasmus MC University Medical Center (MEC 2015-679)..
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