A Nonsense Mutation of the Ceruloplasmin Gene in Hereditary Ceruloplasmin Deficiency with Diabetes Mellitus

A novel mutation of the ceruloplasmin (Cp) gene was found in a patient with hereditary ceruloplasmin deficiency (HCD) with diabetes mellitus (DM). The patient had been treated for DM for about 13 years, and then his illness was diagnosed as HCD. One year later, he was found dead in his home. A decrease in insulin-immunostained cells was observed in the islets of the patient′s pancreas tissue, which accounted for his DM. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-direct sequencing analysis of the Cp gene of his daughter revealed a novel point mutation, G to A, at nucleotide 2630 in exon 15. This mutation changes the Trp858codon (TGG) to a stop codon (TAG) (nonsense mutation). PCR-restriction analysis for the mutation revealed that the patient as well as his daughter was a heterozygote for the mutation, indicating that the patient was a compound heterozygote.