Factors determining penetrance in familial atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome

Background Inherited abnormalities of complement are found in similar to 60% of patients with atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS). Such abnormalities are not fully penetrant. In this study, we have estimated the penetrance of the disease in three families with a CFH mutation (c.3643C>G; p. Arg1215Gly) in whom a common lineage is probable. 25 individuals have been affected with aHUS with three peaks of incidence-early childhood (n=6), early adulthood (n= 11) and late adulthood (n= 8). Eighteen individuals who have not developed aHUS carry the mutation. Methods We estimated penetrance at the ages of 4, 27, 60 and 70 years as both a binary and a survival trait using MLINK and Mendel. We genotyped susceptibility factors in CFH, CD46 and CFHR1 in affected and unaffected carriers. Results and Conclusions We found that the estimates of penetrance at the age of 4 years ranged from <0.01 to 0.10, at the age of 27 years from 0.16 to 0.29, at the age of 60 years from 0.39 to 0.51 and at the age of 70 years from 0.44 to 0.64. We found that the CFH haplotype on the allele not carrying the CFH mutation had a significant effect on disease penetrance. In this family, we did not find that the CD46 haplotypes had a significant effect on penetrance.