Encyclopedia
Autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness is a disorder of the retina, which is the specialized tissue at the back of the eye that detects light and color.
- genetic conditions
1. Introduction
People with this condition typically have difficulty seeing and distinguishing objects in low light (night blindness). For example, they are not able to identify road signs at night and some people cannot see stars in the night sky. Affected individuals have normal daytime vision and typically do not have other vision problems related to this disorder.
The night blindness associated with this condition is congenital, which means it is present from birth. This vision impairment tends to remain stable (stationary); it does not worsen over time.
2. Frequency
Autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness is likely a rare disease; however, its prevalence is unknown.
3. Causes
Mutations in the RHO, GNAT1, or PDE6B gene cause autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness. The proteins produced from these genes are necessary for normal vision, particularly in low-light conditions. These proteins are found in specialized light receptor cells in the retina called rods. Rods transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain when light is dim.
The RHO gene provides instructions for making a protein called rhodopsin, which is turned on (activated) by light entering the eye. Rhodopsin then attaches (binds) to and activates the protein produced from the GNAT1 gene, alpha (α)-transducin. The α-transducin protein then triggers the activation of a protein called cGMP-PDE, which is made up of multiple parts (subunits) including a subunit produced from the PDE6B gene. Activated cGMP-PDE triggers a series of chemical reactions that create electrical signals. These signals are transmitted from rod cells to the brain, where they are interpreted as vision.
Mutations in the RHO, GNAT1, or PDE6B gene disrupt the normal signaling that occurs within rod cells. As a result, the rods cannot effectively transmit signals to the brain, leading to a lack of visual perception in low light.
4. Inheritance
This condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder.
5. Other Names for This Condition
- CSNBAD
- night blindness, congenital stationary, autosomal dominant
- Autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/autosomal-dominant-congenital-stationary-night-blindness
References
- Gal A, Orth U, Baehr W, Schwinger E, Rosenberg T. Heterozygous missensemutation in the rod cGMP phosphodiesterase beta-subunit gene in autosomaldominant stationary night blindness. Nat Genet. 1994 May;7(1):64-8. Erratum in:Nat Genet. 1994 Aug;7(4):551.
- McAlear SD, Kraft TW, Gross AK. 1 rhodopsin mutations in congenital nightblindness. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2010;664:263-72. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-1399-9_30. Review.
- Szabo V, Kreienkamp HJ, Rosenberg T, Gal A. p.Gln200Glu, a putativeconstitutively active mutant of rod alpha-transducin (GNAT1) in autosomaldominant congenital stationary night blindness. Hum Mutat. 2007 Jul;28(7):741-2.
- Tsang SH, Woodruff ML, Jun L, Mahajan V, Yamashita CK, Pedersen R, Lin CS,Goff SP, Rosenberg T, Larsen M, Farber DB, Nusinowitz S. Transgenic mice carryingthe H258N mutation in the gene encoding the beta-subunit of phosphodiesterase-6(PDE6B) provide a model for human congenital stationary night blindness. HumMutat. 2007 Mar;28(3):243-54.
- Zeitz C, Gross AK, Leifert D, Kloeckener-Gruissem B, McAlear SD, Lemke J,Neidhardt J, Berger W. Identification and functional characterization of a novel rhodopsin mutation associated with autosomal dominant CSNB. Invest Ophthalmol VisSci. 2008 Sep;49(9):4105-14. doi: 10.1167/iovs.08-1717.
