Purpose: This study reports on the phenotype of cystic fibrosis patients identified to be carriers of the p.Ser489X (p.Ser489*; c.1466C>A) cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutation, a variant rarely described in the cystic fibrosis literature, as well as on its allelic frequency in a French-Canadian cystic fibrosis patient cohort.
Methods: Reported phenotypes and allelic frequency of this variant were collected based on the data from a large French-Canadian cystic fibrosis patient cohort.
Results: Cystic fibrosis patients found to carry the p.Ser489X variant generally presented with classic gastrointestinal manifestations of this condition in infancy. The allelic frequency of this variant was calculated to be 0.7% for this population.
Conclusion: The p.Ser489X CFTR variant is a severe disease-causing CFTR allele that is relatively frequent in the French-Canadian cystic fibrosis patient population, warranting its inclusion into CFTR molecular testing panel for this population.