Two families with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy carrying G11778A and T14502C mutations with haplogroup H2a2a1 in mitochondrial DNA.

The mitochondrial haplogroup has been reported to affect the clinical expression of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). The present study aimed to investigate the interaction between mutations and the haplogroup of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in families. Two unrelated families with LHON were enrolled in the study, and clinical, genetic and molecular characterizations were determined in the affected and unaffected family members. Polymerase chain reaction direct sequencing was performed using 24 pairs of overlapping primers for whole mtDNA to screen for mutations and haplogroup. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to evaluate the pathogenic effect of these mtDNA mutations and the haplogroup. The G11778A mutation was identified in the two families. In addition, the members of family 2 exhibited the T14502C mutation and those in family 1 exhibited the T3394C and T14502C mutations, which were regarded as secondary mutations. The penetrance of visual loss in families 1 and 2 were 30.8 and 33.3%, respectively. In addition, the two families were found to be in the H2a2a1 haplogroup. In this limited sample size, it was demonstrated that the H2a2a1 haplogroup had a possible protective effect against LHON. Additional modifying factors, including environmental factors, lifestyle, estrogen levels and nuclear genes may also be important in LHON.