Rapid screening of the LDL receptor point mutation FH-Genoa/Palermo

The LDL-receptor gene point mutation FH-Genoa/Palermo is the most frequent mutation responsible for Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Sicily. The mutation does not introduce or abolish any useful restriction site. We establish a GeneComb-based strategy to identify this mutation in a population of Sicilian unrelated clinically diagnosed FH probands. The method was very sensitive and specific; 12 out of 90 (13.3%) unrelated FH probands were found to carry the FH-Genoa/Palermo mutation. According to these results, the FH-Genoa/Palermo is the more frequent LDL-receptor gene mutation among the Sicilian FH patients. Moreover FH-Genoa/Palermo is the mutation cluster to date more represented in Southern Italy.