An autosomal dominant form of hereditary hypotrichosis simplex maps to 18p11.32-p11.23 in an Italian family

We report on a three-generation Italian family with dominant transmission o f a form of hereditary hypotrichosis simplex (HHS). The nine affected adult s presented with sparse, thin and short hair. Somewhat less sparse and long er hair was observed in the two affected young children in the third genera tion. Reduced hair growth affected the scalp and body, although normal eyel ashes, eyebrows and growth of men's beards were observed. No associated abn ormality was detected and the overall psychomotor development of the affect ed individuals was normal. A phenotypic variation was observed amongst the family members and is suggestive of a reduced penetrance of the trait or th e effect of a modifying factor. After exclusion, in our family, of linkage to loci previously described in other forms of atrichia or hypotrichosis, w e performed a genome-wide linkage analysis, which resulted in a positive lo d score at 18p11.32-p11.23. We defined a critical region of about 35 cM fla nked by markers D18S853 and D18S40. The highest two-point lod score was obt ained with the microsatellite markers D18S1376, D18S53 and D18S453 (lod sco re of 3.31 at theta = 0.00). The 18p11.32-p11.23 locus represents the first chromosome region shown to be associated with hereditary hypotrichosis sim plex.