Random X chromosome inactivation in patients with Klinefelter syndrome

Abstract

BACKGROUND X chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an indispensable process in the development of human female embryos. Reportedly, XCI occurs when a blastocyst contains 10-12 embryonic progenitor cells. To date, it remains unclear whether XCI ratios are normally preserved in Klinefelter syndrome (KS) patients with 47,XXY karyotype. METHODS We examined XCI ratios in 18 KS patients through DNA methylation analysis for the polymorphic trinucleotide locus in the AR gene. The results of the KS patients were compared to previous data from healthy young women. RESULTS XCI ratios in KS patients followed a normal distribution. Skewed XCI was observed in two patients, one of whom exhibited extremely skewed XCI. The frequencies of skewed and extremely skewed XCI in the KS cohort were comparable to those in healthy women. CONCLUSION This study confirmed the rarity of skewed XCI in KS patients. These results indicate that the presence of a supernumerary X chromosome during the cleavage and early blastocyst stages does not affect the developmental tempo of embryos. Our data deserve further validation.