Comitant strabismus genes identified

The researchers, led by Dr Toshihiko Matsuo from Okayama University, examined the DNA of 204 individuals in 58 Japanese families – 108 of which had comitant strabismus.Matsuo performed so-called single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses of the individuals’ DNA to try and identify the singe genes responsible for the condition.SNPs are variations of a single nucleotide at a particular position in the genome and are indicators for a patient’s susceptibility to particular diseases.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q: Too much near viewing on smartphones or tablet PCs may also lead to the development of strabismus. }}Following the SNP analysis, the scientists used three different linkage-analysis methods to narrow down earlier determined chromosomal loci associated with comitant strabismus to single genes.Further tests then pointed to two genes as potential loci of the SNP for comitant strabismus – MGST2 and WNT2.It was known already that both MGST2 and WNT2 are expressed in the brain, but the researchers’ findings showed that these genes are likely to play a role in the development of comitant strabismus.Despite this, Matsuo pointed out that further functional studies would be necessary to clarify the mechanisms of the two genes related to a person’s susceptibility to the condition.However, while people with a family history of the condition are at a higher risk of having comitant strabismus, environmental factors such as too much near viewing on smartphones or tablet PCs may also lead to the development of strabismus.