Taken together with a recent model between FCD and yet another early onset corneal dystrophy, PPCD, our data suggest a shared pathomechanism and genetic overlap across several corneal dystrophies.
The absence of pathogenic mutations identified in the COL8A1 or COL8A2 genes in affected members of 15 pedigrees with familial FECD indicates that other genetic factors are involved in the development of this autosomal dominant corneal dystrophy.
No pathogenic mutations were identified in the COL8A2 gene or in several positional candidate genes in a series of patients with PPCD, indicating that other genetic factors are involved in the development of this autosomal dominant corneal dystrophy.
To determine whether Japanese patients with Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) and posterior polymorphous dystrophy (PPMD) carry mutations in the COL8A2 gene, and to investigate the possible pathogenicity of the COL8A2 gene in these corneal dystrophies.