Clinical and genetic characteristics in patients with Huntington's disease from China

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of unstable CAG repeats in the HTT gene. There are scarce data about HD in China. Fifty-eight HD patients were consecutively recruited and assessed using the Unified HD Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor section and UHDRS behaviour assessment (UHDRS-b). Genetic analyses were also conducted. Thirty-three women and Twenty -five men were diagnosed with a mean age of 46.1 +/- 11.2 years and a mean number of CAG triplet repeats 44.6 +/- 4.4. CAG triplet repeat number was negatively correlated with age at onset, and positively correlated with UHDRS-b total score, and its subdomains including depressed mood, low self-esteem, anxiety and irritability. On the other hand, negative correlations were identified between age at onset and UHDRS-b total score, and its subdomains include low self-esteem, anxiety, suicidal thought, irritability and apathy. Disease durations were correlated with UHDRS motor scores and anxiety domain of UHDRS-b. This is the largest series of Chinese HD patients with demographic, clinical and genetic data confirms the demographic features of Chinese HD patients are comparable to those in other ethnic backgrounds. CAG triplet repeat number may also predict the severity of behaviour problems in HD patients besides its predication for age of onset.