[Prenatal prevention of drepanocytosis: analysis of cellular DNA in 2 cases]

Direct analysis of fetal DNA using restriction endonucleases constitutes a major area of progress in prenatal diagnosis. This recent technology may permit the precise identification of a mutant allele for some diseases, whereas in others it allows the familial segregation of a pathogenic allele to be followed by its linkage to a DNA sequence polymorphism. This type of analysis, available in a few centers, is currently used, among others, for the prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell anemia. After fetal cells have been obtained by choriocentesis or amniocentesis, the extracted DNA is exposed to selected restriction enzymes. In the diagnosis of sickle cell anemia the mutant codon responsible for the substitution of glutamic acid by valine in the beta hemoglobin chain is no longer cut by the enzyme Mst II, due to its variance with the normal codon; this difference in fragment length is detected by DNA electrophoresis, and the particular fragments are identified by molecular hybridization with appropriate radioactive probes. Utilizing these methods the genotype of a homozygous normal fetus can be distinguished from that of a homozygote affected or a heterozygote for the sickle mutation of the beta hemoglobin chain. We have recently applied this prenatal methodology to the pregnancies of two couples from Zaire, in which each member was a proven sickle cell carrier. Fetal material was obtained in both cases by amniocentesis at the 16th week of gestation and followed by cell culture. In the first case, a 46, XX fetus, DNA (10 mcg) revealed a heterozygous sickle cell carrier genotype.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)