Chromosome 15-linked limb-girdle muscular dystrophy: clinical phenotypes in Reunion Island and French metropolitan communities

Erb's type limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) was identified and clinically studied in detail in a small community living in the Reunion Island (RI). It was linked to chromosome 15q and related to mutations in the muscle specific calpain 3 gene. A series of cases were afterwards clinically and genetically identified in the French metropolitan community. The phenotype was identical to the RI type in the great majority of cases, although clinical differences were noticed in a few cases. Six different mutations were identified in the RI families, whereas a series of 39 mutations were detected in the French metropolitan families, all different from those present in the RI patients. Phenotype-genotype correlations were attempted in both communities.