A Little Known But Very Common Phenotype in Patients with Severe
Congenital Neutropenia Due to HAX1 Deficiency: Premature Ovarian
Insufficiency
Abstract
Background: Autosomal recessive severe congenital neutropenia
(SCN) has been associated with homozygous variants in the
HAX1(HCLS1 Associated Protein X-1) gene. In this rare disease,
ovarian insufficiency has been reported only in nine female patients in
the literature. There is insufficient data on the gonadal function of
patients with SCN due to HAX1 gene variant (
HAX1-SCN ) in childhood and the age of onset of
premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is unknown. The aim of this
cross-sectional study was to evaluate the gonadal functions and pubertal
development in pediatric patients with HAX1-SCN.
Methods: Forty-five patients, including 24 females (median age
11.3 years, 1.5–31 years, 13 pubertal and 11 prepubertal), and 21 males
(median age 9.5 years, 3–18.8 years, 7 pubertal and 14 prepubertal),
followed in 7 centers, were included. POI is defined as a menstrual
disturbance with increased follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and low
anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). We classified prepubertal female patients
as impending POI when they had low AMH and high FSH values, indicating
impaired ovarian function. Results: A homozygous single
nucleotide insertion (position 130-131insA) leading to a premature stop
codon; p.Trp44*(c.132G>A) variant in HAX1 gene was
detected in 42 (93.3%) affected individuals. Other homozygous variants
were p.Arg86*(c.256C>T) and p.Glu60Aspfs*25(c.180delA). We
detected elevated serum FSH levels in 10/11 (90.9%) of prepubertal
female patients, supporting the diagnosis of impending POI, and in 12/13
(92.3%) of pubertal female patients, classifying them as POI. All
female patients had low AMH levels. Male patients did not exhibit
gonadal insufficiency. Conclusions: This is the first and
largest case series covering early childhood to evaluate patients with
HAX1-SCN for gonadal functions. It has been observed that
pubertal girls develop POI, prepubertal girls are at increased risk for
gonadal failure and male patients are not affected. Our results suggest
that HAX1 has an important role in ovarian maturation and/or
function. The genotype-phenotype relationship of these patients and the
effect of clinical features of SCN on gonadal function should be further
investigated.