Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39859286›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2025

Non-Invasive Determination of the Paternal Inheritance in Pregnancies at Risk for β-Thalassaemia by Analyzing Cell-Free Fetal DNA Using Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing.

Stefania Byrou, Rutger W W Brouwer, Marios Tomazou, Stella Tamana, Petros Kountouris, Carsten W Lederer, Miranda Petrou, Zeliha Ozgur, Xander den Dekker, Zakia Azmani and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Stefania ByrouMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Rutger W W BrouwerDepartment of Cell Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7524-6230
Marios TomazouMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0002-0836-5579
Stella TamanaMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0002-3414-4972
Petros KountourisMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0003-2681-4355
Carsten W LedererMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0003-3920-9584
Miranda PetrouMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Zeliha OzgurDepartment of Cell Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Xander den DekkerDepartment of Cell Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-3353-8101
Zakia AzmaniDepartment of Cell Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Soteroula ChristouNicosia Thalassaemia Clinic, Archbishop Makarios III Hospital, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Christiana MakariouThalassaemia Screening Laboratory, Thalassaemia Center, Archbishop Makarios III Hospital, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.
Marina KleanthousMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0003-0064-7034
Wilfred F J van IJckenDepartment of Cell Biology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-0421-8301
Thessalia PapasavvaMolecular Genetics Thalassaemia Department, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia 2371, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0001-9279-4810

Funding

The Research and Innovation Foundation Excellence/1216/0484
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been widely adopted for the screening of chromosomal abnormalities; however, its adoption for monogenic disorders, such as β-thalassaemia, has proven challenging. Haemoglobinopathies are the most common monogenic disorders globally, with β-thalassaemia being particularly prevalent in Cyprus. This study introduces a non-invasive prenatal haplotyping (NIPH) assay for β-thalassaemia, utilizing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from maternal plasma. The assay determines paternal inheritance by analyzing highly heterozygous single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the β-globin gene cluster. To identify highly heterozygous SNVs in the population, 96 randomly selected samples were processed using Illumina DNA-prep NGS chemistry. A custom, high-density NGS genotyping panel, named HAPLONID, was designed with 169 SNVs, including 15 common pathogenic ones. The AmpliSeq for Illumina assay was then applied to cfDNA to evaluate the panel's efficiency in performing NIPT for β-thalassaemia. Analysis revealed 219 highly polymorphic SNVs, and the sequencing of 17 families confirmed successful paternal allele determination. The NIPH assay demonstrated 100% success in diagnostic interpretation. This study achieved the advancement of an integrated NGS-NIPT assay for β-thalassaemia, bringing it one step closer to being a diagnostic assay and thereby enabling a reduction in the number of risky invasive prenatal sampling procedures in Cyprus and elsewhere.

Indexed as

beta-ThalassemiaCell-Free Nucleic AcidsHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingNoninvasive Prenatal TestingPaternal InheritancePrenatal DiagnosisAdultbeta-GlobinsFemaleFetusHaplotypesHumansMalePolymorphism, Single NucleotidePregnancybeta-GlobinsCell-Free Nucleic Acidscell-free DNA (cfDNA)haplotype analysismonogenic disordersnon-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT)β-thalassaemia

Identifiers

PMID39859286
PMCPMC11765003

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.