A novel MYT1L mutation in a patient with severe early-onset obesity and intellectual disability

The genetic background of severe early-onset obesity is still incompletely understood. Deletions at 2p25.3 associate with early-onset obesity and variable intellectual disability. Myelin-transcriptor-factor-1-like (MYT1L) gene in this locus has been proposed a candidate gene for obesity. We report on a 13-year-old boy presenting with overweight already at 1 year of age (body mass index [BMI] Z-score +2.3) and obesity at 2 years of age (BMI Z-score +3.8). The patient had hyperphagia and delayed neurological, cognitive and motor development. He also had speech delay, strabismus, hyperactivity and intellectual disability. Brain MRI was normal. The parents and sister had normal BMI. Whole-genome sequencing identified in the index patient a novel de novo frameshift deletion that introduces a premature termination of translation NM_015025.2(MYT1L): c.2215_2224delACGCGCTGCC, p.(Thr739Alafs*7) in MYT1L. The frameshift variant was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Our finding supports the association of MYT1L mutations with early-onset syndromic obesity. The identification of novel monogenic forms of childhood-onset obesity will provide insights to the involved genetic and biologic pathways.