By Anthony O. Miller
THE CYPRUS Institute of Neurology and Genetics, in collaboration with two Jordanian hospitals, has identified a new form of nerve- and muscle-wasting hereditary disease that uniquely strikes a particular tribal population of Jordanians.
The researchers also isolated the gene – on chromosome 9 – that causes the crippling motor neuropathy, which is unique to people of the ancient Roman- Greek Jordanian city of Jerash and is transmitted by intermarriage among them, Dr Eleni Zamba said yesterday.
Jordanian doctors now have the tough task of telling the Jerash people they must alter their age-old tribal intermarriage patterns, “as it’s most probable that a person will be a carrier if they are from their same family, ” Dr Zamba said.
If tests determine both potential marriage partners carry the recessive gene, they will be cautioned against marrying, lest their children inherit the disease, she said.
But as it is a recessive disorder, both parents can carry the gene and not pass it to their children – although the risk is greater here than if only one parent is a carrier. Likewise, a child with the gene, who marries a partner without it, will not produce offspring that inherit the disorder.
The disease does not affect Cypriots, Dr Zamba said. But it was found in 30 out of 120 Jordanians in seven Jerash families studied, suggesting a prevalence that warranted the Cypriot genetic detective work in collaboration with the University Hospital of Amman and the King Hussein Hospital.
The disease’s victims are strictly Arab Jordanians, all from the Jerash area, and include no Palestinians, Zamba said – despite the fact more than half Jordan’s population is Palestinian.
The disease causes selective weakness and wasting of the nerves controlling the muscles of the hands and feet, while not necessarily affecting the arms and legs. Thus, some victims may not be able to feed themselves, and others may be unable to walk, while there is nothing wrong with their forearms, calves, biceps or thighs, Zamba said.
The field work was done in Jordan, while the high-tech genetic research was done at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics in Nicosia. The project was funded by a grant from the American Muscular Dystrophy Association to study the genetic diseases of the Eastern Mediterranean area, Zamba said.
Cypriots involved in the research included Dr Zamba, Orthodox Priest and microbiologist Father Marios Tsingis, Elefterios Papathanasiou, Annie Hadjianastasiou, Dr Kyriakos Kyriacou, Dr Theodoros Kyriakides, Dr Kyproula Christodoulou and Dr Lefkos Middleton.
