ClinVar

Description

Variant summary: CFTR c.164+12T>C alters a non-conserved nucleotide located close to a canonical splice site and therefore could affect mRNA splicing, leading to a significantly altered protein sequence. 4/4 computational tools predict no significant impact on normal splicing. However, these predictions have yet to be confirmed by functional studies. The variant allele was found at a frequency of 0.00034 in 247964 control chromosomes, predominantly at a frequency of 0.0026 within the South Asian subpopulation in the gnomAD database, including 2 homozygotes. This frequency is not higher than expected for a pathogenic variant in CFTR causing Cystic Fibrosis (0.0026 vs 0.013), allowing no conclusion about variant significance. c.164+12T>C was reported in the homozygous state in two unrelated Cystic Fibrosis patients of Pakistani origin born to consanguineous parents (Malone_1998). However, due to the use of older mutational scanning technologies in this study, the possibility of missed co-occurrences with pathogenic variants in these patients cannot be ruled out. A more recent study reported the variant in one patient of Saudi Arabian descent with classic CF in homozygous state. However, the patient was also homozygous for another pathogenic CFTR variant (c.3889dupT, p.Ser1297PhefsX5) present in cis with the variant of interest (Banjar_2017), providing supporting evidence for a benign role. Another recent study (Lascano-Vaca_2020), reported the variant in heterozygous state in 2 pediatric CF patients from Ecuador with a detailed genotype provided for one of the patients who also had known pathogenic variants F508del and W1098X, providing further supporting evidence for a benign role. To our knowledge, no experimental evidence demonstrating an impact on protein function has been reported. Two ClinVar submitters (evaluation after 2014) cite the variant as benign/likely benign and three ClinVar submitters (evaluation after 2014) cite it as uncertain significance. Based on the evidence outlined above, the variant was classified as likely benign.