Dopa-responsive dystonia due to a large deletion in the GTP cyclohydrolase I gene

Although it is assumed that most patients with autosomal dominant dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) have a GTP cyclohydrolase I dysfunction, conventional genomic DNA sequencing of the gene (GCH1) coding for this enzyme fails to reveal any mutations in about 40% of DRD patients, which makes molecular genetic diagnosis difficult. We found a large heterozygous GCH1 deletion, which cannot be detected by the usual genomic DNA sequence analysis, in a three-generation DRD family and conclude that a large genomic deletion in GCH1 may account for some "mutation-negative" patients with dominantly inherited DRD.