Genotype and Phenotype Characteristics of Chinese Pediatric Patients with Primary Hyperoxaluria

Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is a rare monogenic disorder characterized by recurrent kidney stones, nephrocalcinosis, and renal impairment. To study the genotype and phenotype characteristics, we evaluated the clinical data of 42 Chinese pediatric PH patients who were diagnosed from May 2016 to April 2022. We found that patients with the PH3 type showed an earlier age of onset than those with the PH1 and PH2 types (1 versus 5 and 8 years, respectively, P<0.001). Urine citrate was significantly lower in PH1 and PH2 patients than that in PH3 patients (91.81 and 85.56 versus 163.9 mu g/mg, respectively, P=0.044). Spot urine oxalate levels were slightly higher in PH1 than that in PH2 and PH3 patients (457.9 versus 182.38 and 309.14 mu g/mg, respectively, P=0.189). A significant negative correlation between the urine calcium/creatinine ratio and the oxalate/creatinine ratio was observed in the entire PH cohort (r=-0.360, P=0.04) and the PH3 cohort (r=-0.674, P=0.003). PH-causative genes showed hotspot mutations or regions, including c.815_816insGA and c.33dup in AGXT, 864_865del in GRHPR, and exon 6 skipping and c.769T>G in HOGA1. In the PH1 cohort, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was lowest in patients with heterozygous c.33dup. In the PH3 cohort, patients with heterozygous exon 6 skipping presented the lowest eGFR and a significant decrease in the renal survival advantage. In summary, PH1 patients exhibit much more severe phenotypes than those with other types. Hotspot mutations or regions exist in patients with all types of PH and show differences among ethnicities. Genotype-phenotype correlations are observed in PH1 and PH3.