Link discovered between severe scoliosis and rare mutations

Children with rare mutations in two genes are about four times more likely to develop severe scoliosis than their peers with normal versions of the genes, scientists have found. The research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified genetic risk factors that predispose children to develop s-shaped curves in their spines that are dramatic enough to require surgery.

"We've had a difficult time finding ways to predict who will develop severe scoliosis, and these newly identified mutations have the potential to be very helpful," said senior author Christina A. Gurnett, MD, PhD.

The findings appear online in Human Molecular Genetics.

Drugs currently in clinical trials block a major growth pathway that these mutated genes, fibrillin-1 and fibrillin-2, control. If the same pathway is involved in scoliosis, doctors might be able to use these drugs to prevent scoliosis in some children with these mutations...

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