{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Clinical characterization of patients with PRPF31-related retinitis pigmentosa and asymptomatic carriers: a cross-sectional study.
{Author}: Lisbjerg K;Bertelsen M;Grønskov K;Kessel L;
{Journal}: Ophthalmic Genet
{Volume}: 44
{Issue}: 5
{Year}: 2023 10 9
{Factor}: 1.274
{DOI}: 10.1080/13816810.2023.2219732
{Abstract}: To describe the clinical phenotype of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) caused by PRPF31-variants and clinical characterization of asymptomatic PRPF31 carriers.
We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional deep phenotyping study. We included subjects with PRPF31 variants predicted to be disease-causing, both individuals with RP and asymptomatic carriers. Participants underwent a comprehensive clinical examination of standard visual function parameters (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, Goldmann visual field), full-field stimulus threshold (FST), full-field electroretinogram (ff-ERG), and a structural investigation with slit lamp and multimodal imaging. We used Spearman correlation analyses to evaluate associations between quantitative outcomes.
We included 21 individuals with disease-causing PRPF31-variants: 16 symptomatic and 5 asymptomatic subjects. The symptomatic subjects demonstrated a typical RP phenotype with constricted visual fields, extinguished ff-ERG, and disrupted outer retinal anatomy. FST was impaired and correlated significantly with other outcome measures in RP subjects. Structure-function correlations with Spearman correlation analysis showed moderate correlation coefficients due to a few outliers in each analysis. The asymptomatic individuals had normal best-corrected visual acuity and visual fields, but showed reduced ff-ERG amplitudes, borderline FST sensitivity, and structural abnormalities on OCT and fundoscopy.
RP11 has a typical RP phenotype but varies in terms of severity. FST measurements correlated well with other functional and structural metrics and may be a reliable outcome measure in future trials as it is sensitive to a broad range of disease severities. Asymptomatic carriers showed sub-clinical disease manifestations, and our findings underline that reported non-penetrance in PRPF31-related RP is not an all-or-none phenomenon.