Genetic Confirmation Rate in Clinically Suspected Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young

Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is the most common form of monogenic diabetes, reportedly accounting for 2% to 5% of all cases of diabetes. In samples from Canadian patients referred for molecular genetic confirmation of a clinically suspected MODY, we determined the prevalence of likely disease-causing DNA variants in known MODY genes.

Between 1999 and 2015, our centre received requests from colleagues for DNA sequencing of 96 samples from unrelated Canadian patients with clinically suspected MODY. Prior to 2012, we used Sanger sequencing, and since 2012 we have used targeted next-generation sequencing.

Of 96 samples received, 39 (40.6%) had a likely rare causal variant in 1 of 8 known MODY genes. Of these, 20 (51.3%) and 19 (48.7%) were diagnosed by Sanger and targeted next-generation sequencing, respectively. The 39 mutation-positive samples had 1 of 39 rare variants, of which the majority were in genes encoding either glucokinase (GCK, or MODY2) or hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-alpha (HNF1A, or MODY3). Furthermore, 12 (30.8%) of the detected rare variants had been unreported previously but were likely to have been clinically significant according to standard bioinformatic methods. An additional 6 samples had rare variants in MODY genes that were of uncertain clinical significance.

The findings suggest that clinical suspicion for MODY has a diagnostic yield of ~40% at the molecular level. Confirmatory genetic testing in patients suspected to have MODY allows for definitive diagnoses which, in turn, may guide management and provide rationales for screening other family members presymptomatically.