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ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
Tay-Sachs disease is an autosomal reces-
sive disease of lysosome storage characterized
by progressive neurologic degeneration.
1
Children affected by classic Tay-Sachs disease
manifest the first symptoms at around 6
months and die before reaching 5 years of age.
The clinical manifestations are particularly
severe including deafness, blindness, dementia,
and recurrent convulsions during the terminal
stage when affected children are confined to
bed. There is currently no treatment available.
Tay-Sachs disease is caused by mutations
in the HEXA gene, located at 15q23-q24,
which codes for the alpha subunit of the
hexosaminidase A enzyme.
2, 3
In the absence
of the enzyme, its substrate, G
M2
ganglioside,
accumulates progressively in the neurons of
the central nervous cortex leading to the clini-
cal phenotype of the disease. Late-onset Tay-
Sachs disease (chronic form) is a rare variant
phenotype with appearance of first symptoms
during the second or third decade of life.
4
A
juvenile form is also distinguished, with an
intermediate presentation. The less severe phe-
notypes are due to residual enzyme activity.
5
As observed for several recessive traits, Tay-
Sachs disease incidence concentrates in some
specific populations. That is the case for the
Ashkenazi Jewish population (Jews of Central
or Eastern Europe descent), in which the dis-
ease incidence is 1 in every 3,500 newborns:
approximately 100 times higher than in the
general population. Among Ashkenazi Jews, 1
in every 29 individuals is heterozygous (asymp-
tomatic) for Tay-Sachs disease causing muta-
tions (here called carriers).
6
Following the development of prenatal di-
agnosis for Tay-Sachs disease in the early
1970’s,
7
most couples who had had an affected
child chose to monitor subsequent pregnan-
cies and bring to term only pregnancies of un-
affected fetuses. Other options for carrier cou-
ples include adoption, sperm or egg donation,
pre-implantation diagnosis, reproductive ab-
stention or simply taking their 25% risk.
Since only couples with a previous affected
child could be aware of their risk, carrier screen-
ing programs were massively initiated in the
high-risk populations, aiming at detecting and
informing carrier couples prior to any family
history of the disease. These programs were
made possible due to the development of an
enzymatic assay that allowed the detection of
heterozygotes for Tay-Sachs disease.
8, 9
Up to 1992, over one million individuals
had been tested for Tay-Sachs disease carrier
status, more than 36,000 carriers had been
detected and 1,054 carrier couples had been
identified and informed of their risk prior to
having an affected child. These programs led
to a 90% decrease in the incidence of Tay-
Sachs disease in the Ashkenazi Jewish
populations in the USA, Israel and Canada.
10
Molecular diagnosis for Tay-Sachs disease
in specific populations has presented a com-
plementary or even alternative way for perform-
ing enzymatic assay in detecting carriers. Three
mutations are responsible for 98% of the dis-
ease incidence in the Ashkenazi Jewish popula-
tion.
11, 12
A 4-base pair insertion in exon 11 of
the HEXA gene (InsTATC1278) is present in
80% of Tay-Sachs disease, causing alleles.
13
The
second most frequent mutation leading to Tay-
Sachs disease in Ashkenazi Jews is a guanine to
Original Article
•Roberto Rozenberg
•Lygia da Veiga Pereira
The frequency of Tay-Sachs disease
causing mutations in the Brazilian
Jewish population justifies a carrier
screening program
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Biology/Genetics,
Institute of Biosciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
CONTEXT: Tay-Sachs disease is an autosomal reces-
sive disease characterized by progressive
neurologic degeneration, fatal in early childhood.
In the Ashkenazi Jewish population the disease
incidence is about 1 in every 3,500 newborns
and the carrier frequency is 1 in every 29 indi-
viduals. Carrier screening programs for Tay-Sachs
disease have reduced disease incidence by 90%
in high-risk populations in several countries. The
Brazilian Jewish population is estimated at 90,000
individuals. Currently, there is no screening
program for Tay-Sachs disease in this population.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of a Tay-Sachs
disease carrier screening program in the Brazil-
ian Jewish population by determining the frequency
of heterozygotes and the acceptance of the pro-
gram by the community.
SETTING: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics – Institute
of Biosciences – Universidade de São Paulo.
PARTICIPANTS: 581 senior students from selected Jew-
ish high schools.
PROCEDURE: Molecular analysis of Tay-Sachs disease
causing mutations by PCR amplification of genomic
DNA, followed by restriction enzyme digestion.
RESULTS: Among 581 students that attended educa-
tional classes, 404 (70%) elected to be tested for
Tay-Sachs disease mutations. Of these, approxi-
mately 65% were of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. Eight
carriers were detected corresponding to a carrier
frequency of 1 in every 33 individuals in the
Ashkenazi Jewish fraction of the sample.
CONCLUSION: The frequency of Tay-Sachs disease
carriers among the Ashkenazi Jewish population
of Brazil is similar to that of other countries where
carrier screening programs have led to a signifi-
cant decrease in disease incidence. Therefore, it
is justifiable to implement a Tay-Sachs disease car-
rier screening program for the Brazilian Jewish
population.
KEY WORDS: Tay-Sachs disease. Genetic screening.
HEXA gene. Jewish population. Molecular diag-
nosis.
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 2001; 119(4):146-9
São Paulo Medical Journal - Revista Paulista de Medicina
147
Table 2. Participants’ parents’ opinions
on the program
Opinion n (%)
Negative 0 0%
Insignificant 1 0%
Not very important 5 1%
Important 184 28%
Very important 274 42%
Essential 165 25%
Not responded 20 3%
Total 649 100%
n: number of parent replies, among consent forms for the 404 participants;
(%): percentage of the total number of answers (including non-respondents).
cytosine transvertion in the first base of intron
12 (IVS12+1), and is present in 16% of the
alleles.
14, 15
The third and most rare mutation,
present in 2% of Tay-Sachs disease cases, is a
guanine to adenine transition in the last nucle-
otide of exon 7 leading to a substitution of gly-
cine for serine in position 269 of the alpha
subunit of the hexosaminidase A enzyme
(Gly269Ser). This last mutation leads to late-
onset Tay-Sachs disease in the Ashkenazi Jew-
ish population.
4, 16
Brazil has the 8
th
largest Jewish popula-
tion in the world, counted as approximately
90,000 individuals in 1991.
17
This work was
designed to evaluate the need for and accept-
ance of a screening program for Tay-Sachs dis-
ease carriers in the Brazilian Jewish popula-
tion. For that purpose, we evaluated the fre-
quency of carriers in a sample of this popula-
tion and observed the reaction of the com-
munity to the proposal of a pilot screening
program for Tay-Sachs disease carriers.
METHODS
During the last three years, educational
classes on Tay-Sachs disease were presented to
senior students at five Jewish high schools, three
in the city of São Paulo (1998, 1999 and 2000)
and two in the city of Rio de Janeiro (1999
and 2000). These institutions are the main non-
orthodox Jewish high schools of these cities.
The students were 16 years of age and over,
except for some participants from Colégio
Liessin (2000), where the pre-senior class at-
tended the program at the school’s request.
After the presentation, students took home
a consent form with a brief explanation of the
program, the possible results of the test and a
questionnaire for the parents. The questionnaire
was aimed at evaluating the impact of similar
programs from other countries (whether they
would serve as an indication for Tay-Sachs dis-
ease testing among Brazilians), the ethnic ori-
gin of the students (Ashkenazi or not) and the
acceptance of the program.
About a week later and with parents’ con-
sent, students who elected to be tested had
mouth mucus collected by twirling a cotton
swab on the inner cheek for a few seconds.
The material was then taken to the labora-
tory where DNA was extracted according to
Richards et al., 1993.
18
Detection of mutations InsTATC1278,
IVS12+1 and Gly269Ser was performed by
PCR amplification of genomic DNA and sub-
sequent digestion with restriction enzymes as
described elsewhere.
11
The results and their interpretation were
confidentially sent by mail to the students. All
samples and results were identified with codes
so that a direct connection between student
name and test result could not be made.
The carrier frequencies obtained were
compared to those from other studies using
Fisher’s exact test. The statistical difference
between two samples was considered non-
significant when P > 0.05.
RESULTS
From 1998 to 2000, thirteen educational
sessions were attended by 581 students. Of
these students, 404 came to the screening ses-
sions and delivered the consent form, an over-
all participation rate of 70%.
Table 1 summarizes the participation rates
by year in each school. Chi-squared analysis
showed that the participation rates did not dif-
fer significantly among the schools (P = 0.52),
over the years (P = 0.22) and between the cities
of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (P = 0.71).
In order to access parents’ opinions on the
importance of the program, they were asked
in the consent form: “How would you clas-
sify this program?”. The results are shown in
Table 2. The program was rated as “impor-
tant”, “very important” or “essential” in 95%
of the cases, among the parents of participat-
ing students.
In order to estimate the Ashkenazi frac-
tion of the sample, we asked in the consent
form about the possibility of Ashkenazi an-
cestry and the country of origin of the stu-
dent’s grandparents (data not shown). From
these data it was readily apparent that 26% of
the students had no Ashkenazi Jewish ances-
try. For the remaining students, the grandpar-
ents’ country of origin allowed us to estimate
that 65% of the students’ chromosomes were
associated with Ashkenazi origin. This esti-
mate is close to others previously established
for the Brazilian Jewish population.
19, 20
Among the 404 participants, eight carriers
were found. All the carriers had Ashkenazi Jew-
ish ancestry. Of the eight mutations detected,
seven were InsTATC1278 and one was
IVS12+1. This indicates a carrier frequency of
1 in every 51 students, similar to that observed
in several Jewish populations (P = 0.16).
10
When the carrier frequency was separated
by state, we found 7 carriers among 258 par-
ticipants in São Paulo and 1 carrier among
146 participants in Rio de Janeiro. The dif-
ference in the carrier frequency between these
two cities was not significant (P= 0.27).
Table 1. Participation rates* of senior students from selected Jewish high schools
School name Students
Year (City) ** Attended Participated Participation Rate*
1998 Bialik (SP) 41 21 51%
Peretz (SP) 31 20 65%
Renascença (SP) 39 26 67%
sub-total
111 67 60%
1999 Bialik (SP) 48 36 75%
Peretz (SP) 43 37 86%
Renascença (SP) 27 23 85%
Eliezer (RJ) 35 24 69%
Liessin (RJ) 36 26 72%
sub-total
189 146 77%
2000 Bialik (SP) 43 25 58%
Peretz (SP) 37 30 81%
Renascença (SP) 57 40 70%
Eliezer (RJ) 49 38 78%
Liessin (RJ) 95 58 61%
sub-total
281 191 68%
TOTAL 581 404 70%
* Participation was defined as the student’s presence at the screening session and delivery of the completed consent form. ** SP: São Paulo, RJ: Rio de Janeiro.
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 2001; 119(4):146-9.
São Paulo Medical Journal - Revista Paulista de Medicina
148
When corrected for the Ashkenazi frac-
tion of the sample, which comprised 65% of
the 404 students’ chromosomes, the estimated
carrier frequency for Tay-Sachs disease is 1 in
33 (8/263), similar to that observed in other
Ashkenazi Jewish populations (P = 0.87).
6
During the study, three carriers contacted
the lab for re-testing and additional
counseling. The mother of a carrier was also
identified as a carrier.
DISCUSSION
One of the necessary prerequisites for the
establishment of a carrier screening program
for a recessive genetic disease is a high carrier
frequency in the target population. It is also
important to confirm the carrier frequency in
similar populations from different countries
since different migration patterns or different
admixture rates could lead to populations with
similar origin, but different carrier frequen-
cies. For instance, the incidence of Tay-Sachs
disease among individuals of French-Canadian
heritage living in northern New England
(USA) is lower than that observed among
those living in Quebec (Canada), downplaying
the need for a screening program in the
former.
21
In contrast, the carrier frequency of Tay-
Sachs disease mutations in the Brazilian Jew-
ish individuals herein studied is similar to that
observed in the Jewish population of several
other countries. The high carrier frequency
found in the Brazilian Jewish population in-
dicates the need of a screening program for
Tay-Sachs disease in Brazil like those effectively
developed in other Jewish communities for
over 30 years.
The 70% participation rate shows good
acceptance of the screening program by the
community. This was also demonstrated by
the participant’s parents’ rating of the program
as “important”, “very important” or “essen-
tial” in 95% of the cases, and the absence of a
significant decrease in the participation rates
in the years following the first presentations
(Table 1). Among the factors that may have
led to the high participation rate in our study
were the participants’ easy access to screening
locations; a collection method that did not
involve blood extraction; and finally, a higher
knowledge of genetics in general due to the
exposure in the media that the Human Ge-
nome Project has had in recent years.
The Tay-Sachs disease screening program
was the first to be performed for a genetic dis-
ease and served as a prototype for other pre-
ventive programs.
23
Currently, over 50 centers
in the world promote Tay-Sachs disease car-
rier screening. Although notable community
mobilization has been obtained by some pro-
grams, others have not readily reached the
same success. Such was the case in Canada,
where researchers decided to move into the
community institutions in order to reach par-
ticipants instead of waiting for self-mobiliza-
tion to screening centers.
The Canadian Tay-Sachs disease program
has been operating for over 20 years, screen-
ing senior high schools students and obtain-
ing a similar participation rate (67%) to the
one in this study (70%).
23
Initially, its ap-
proach to screening faced the ethical contro-
versy of testing single teenagers.
24
A follow-
up study of the program showed that most
students had positive attitudes after screening
and that both carriers and non-carriers con-
sidered the test during high school as not be-
ing premature.
25
The Canadian program
served as a model for the research presented
here, since two previous attempts to establish
preventive programs in Brazil were discontin-
ued.
26, 27
Before we directed it towards high
schools, the offer of a screening program was
made to different Jewish institutions. Al-
though approval was obtained in some in-
stances, the only institutions that presented a
plausible approach to screening were the non-
orthodox Jewish high schools.
Besides the targeting of the screening,
other ethical aspects were an essential part
of this pilot program. In particular, we
avoided stigmatization of carriers by focus-
ing on delivering precise and comprehen-
sive information about Tay-Sachs disease to
students. Additionally, in order to maintain
maximum confidentiality of test results, es-
pecially important in small communities,
samples and results were coded, and the re-
sults were delivered to the participants by
mail. This procedure prevented the personal
identification of carriers, even by research-
ers, unless they contacted the laboratory.
Most students (91%) affirmed that they
would prefer to get a positive result by mail
rather than by a phone call.
Data from the consent form also indi-
cated that the success of screening programs
in other countries does not diminish the
need for a program in Brazil. Only 15% of
students’ parents affirmed they had relatives
living in USA, Israel or Canada, the princi-
pal countries in which preventive programs
are conducted. Only 2% (11/651) of the
parents had already been tested for Tay-
Sachs disease, none of whom because of rec-
ommendation by foreign relatives.
Finally, this was a pioneering piece of re-
search in that it exclusively used molecular
diagnosis to detect Tay-Sachs disease carriers.
It has corroborated the prediction that “the
development of molecular diagnosis allows the
performance of the DNA test in a small center
without the need to maintain the rigorous
quality control required for the enzyme as-
say”.
11
The molecular diagnosis also permits
the tests to be performed on mouth mucus
collection instead of requiring blood testing.
However, while DNA test is adequate for
Ashkenazi Jews, the enzyme assay is more ap-
propriate for the general population since dif-
ferent mutations may be present.
28
In addition to the continuity of this
screening program for Tay-Sachs disease car-
riers, an ideal outcome from this research
would be to bring it to the attention of physi-
cians assisting Brazilian Jewish couples that
they may be attending a Tay-Sachs disease car-
rier couple. It is important to note that the
carrier frequency of Tay-Sachs disease among
the general population is about 10 times lower
than in the population at risk, significantly
diminishing but not eliminating Tay-Sachs
disease among non-Jews. Recently, due to in-
termarriage and declining awareness of ances-
try, screening has been recommended even for
couples for whom only one member is thought
to have ancestry in a high-risk population.
28
Screening can confirm or exclude the possi-
bility of both members of a couple being Tay-
Sachs disease carriers, and is the best indica-
tion for prevention until an effective treatment
becomes available for this disease.
CONCLUSION
The carrier frequency of the main muta-
tions causing Tay-Sachs disease in senior stu-
dents of Jewish high schools was 1/51. The
corrected carrier frequency of Tay-Sachs dis-
ease in the Ashkenazi Jewish fraction of the
sample was 1/33, similar to that in Ashkenazi
Jewish populations of other countries. The
voluntary participation rate in a pilot screen-
ing program of Tay-Sachs disease in Jewish
high schools between the years 1998 and 2000
was 70%.
Based on the efficiency of screening pro-
grams for Tay-Sachs disease in alerting carrier
couples and decreasing the disease incidence
in other countries, a similar program should
be implemented for the Brazilian Jewish popu-
lation. In addition, physicians should recom-
mend testing for Tay-Sachs disease mutations
for individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry
at reproductive age.
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 2001; 119(4):146-9
São Paulo Medical Journal - Revista Paulista de Medicina
149
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CONTEXTO: A doença de Tay-Sachs é uma
doença autossômica recessiva caracterizada
por uma degeneração neurológica
progressiva, fatal na primeira infância. Na
população judaica Ashkenazita a incidência
da doença é de um para cada 3.500
nascimentos, e a freqüência de portadores é
de um para cada 29 indivíduos. Programas
de triagem de portadores da doença de Tay-
Sachs reduziram a incidência da doença em
90% nas populações em risco de diversos
países. A população judaica brasileira é
estimada em 90.000 indivíduos. Atualmente
não há programa de triagem populacional
da doença de Tay-Sachs nessa população.
OBJETIVO: Avaliar a importância de um
programa de triagem de portadores da doença
de Tay-Sachs na população judaica brasileira,
através do estabelecimento da freqüência de
portadores e da aceitação desse programa pela
comunidade.
LOCAL: Laboratório de genética molecular,
Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São
Paulo.
PARTICIPANTES: 581 alunos do 3
o
. ano do
RESUMO
ensino médio de escolas judaicas selecionadas.
PROCEDIMENTOS: Análise molecular de
mutações causadoras da doença de Tay-Sachs
através de amplificação de DNA genômico
por PCR e digestão por enzimas de restrição.
RESULTADOS: Entre 581 alunos que assistiram
palestras informativas, 404 (70%) decidiram
realizar o teste para detecção de portadores.
Desses, aproximadamente 65% tinham origem
judaica Ashkenazita. Oito portadores foram
identificados correspondendo a uma freqüência
de portadores de um em cada 33 indivíduos na
fração judaica Ashkenazita da amostra.
CONCLUSÕES: A freqüência de portadores da
doença de Tay-Sachs, na população judaica
Ashkenazita brasileira, é similar àquela de
outros países nos quais programas de triagem
levaram a uma redução significativa na
incidência da doença. Assim, é justificável a
implementação de um programa de triagem
de portadores da doença de Tay-Sachs na
população judaica brasileira.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Doença de Tay-Sachs.
Triagem genética. Gene HEXA. População
judaica. Diagnóstico molecular.
Acknowledgments. The authors wish to thank L. Pelleg
from the Israeli Tay-Sachs disease test center and R. Desnick,
R. Kornreich and C. Eng from Mount Sinai Hospital (NY)
for the positive control samples obtained. We also wish to
thank the boards of the participating schools and CNPq
and FAPESP for financial support.
Roberto Rozenberg, MSc. Department of Genetics,
Institute of Biosciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São
Paulo, Brazil.
Lygia da Veiga Pereira, PhD. Department of Biology,
Institute of Biosciences, Universidade de São Paulo, São
Paulo, Brazil.
Sources of funding: CNPq and FAPESP n
o
98/02435-2
Conflict of interest: Not declared
Last received: 20 February 2001
Accepted: 20 April 2001
Address for correspondence
Lygia da Veiga Pereira
Departamento de Biologia, Instituto de Biociências,
Universidade de São Paulo
Rua do Matão, 277/350
São Paulo/SP – Brazil – CEP 05508-900
E-mail: lpereira@usp.br
COPYRIGHT©2001, Associação Paulista de Medicina
Publishing information
Sao Paulo Med J/Rev Paul Med 2001; 119(4):146-9.
