Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:05:29.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Monozygotic Twins with Discordant Sex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

K. Kurosawa*
Affiliation:
Division of Medical Genetics, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center
R. Kuromaru
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University
K. Imaizumi
Affiliation:
Division of Medical Genetics, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center
Y. Nakamura
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, Cancer Institute
F. Ishikawa
Affiliation:
Kanagawa Police Headquarters, Japan
K. Ueda
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University
Y. Kuroki
Affiliation:
Division of Medical Genetics, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center
*
Kanagawa Children's Medical Centre, Mutsukawa 2-138-4, Minamiku Yokohama 232, Japan

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A nine-year-old girl with short stature was referred to the department of pediatrics at Kyushu University. The clinical diagnosis was Turner syndrome; karyotypic analysis performed on peripheral blood, using GTG techniques, demonstrated a 45,X/47,XYY (17:83) mosaicism. Her twin brother, a phenotypically normal male, had the same karyotype; 45,X/47,XYY (3:97) on peripheral blood. Their skin fibroblast karyotypes showed the same mosaicism, ie. 45,X/47,XYY (41:59 and 31:69 respectively). On eleven biochemical genetic markers the twin pair were concordant, thus the likelihood of monozygosity was 0.99527034. In addition, the analysis of variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) markers revealed the likelihood of monozygosity to be 0.99944386. The most plausible explanation of the X/XYY mosaicism was nondisjunction of the Y in the first cleavage division of the 46,XY zygote. A disproportionate rate of cell populations with 45,X and 47.XYY in the twinning process of the X/XYY embryo, especially in the germ lines, would result in discordant sex in twin pairs.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1992

References

REFERENCES

1. Akane, A, Matsubara, K, Shiono, H, Yamada, M, Nakagome, Y (1991): Diagnosis of twin zygosity by hypervariable RFLP markers. Am J Med Genet 41:9698.Google Scholar
2. Arizawa, M, Suehara, N, Takemura, T, Nakayama, M (1988): Monozygotic twins discordant for sex. Acta Obstet Gynecol Jpn 40:14791482.Google Scholar
3. Boklage, CE (1981): On the timing of monozygotic twinning. Prog Clin Biol Res 69A:155165.Google ScholarPubMed
4. Edwards, JH, Dent, T, Kahn, J (1966): Monozygotic twins of different sex. J Med Genet 3:117123.Google Scholar
5. Fujimoto, A, Boelter, WD, Sparkes, RS, Lin, MS, Battersby, K (1991): Monozygotic twins of discordant sex both with 45,X/46,X,idic(Y) mosaicism. Am J Med Genet 41:239245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Karp, L, Bryant, JI, Tgatz, G, Giblett, E, Fialkow, PJ (1975): The occurrence of gonadal dysgenesis in association with monozygotic twinning. J Med Genet 12:7078.Google Scholar
7. Mulcahy, MT, Jenkyn, J, Mackellar, A (1977): 45,X/47,XYY mosaicism. J Med Genet 14:218221.Google Scholar
8. Nakamura, Y, Leppert, M, O'Connel, P, Wolff, R, Holm, T, Culver, M, Martin, C, Fujimoto, E, Hoff, M, Kumkin, E, White, R (1987): Variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) markers for human gene mapping. Science 235:16161622.Google Scholar
9. Reindollar, RH, Byrd, JR, Hahn, DH, Haseltine, FP, McDonough, PG (1987): A cytogenetic and endocrinologic study of a set of monozygotic isokaryotic 45,X/46,XY twins discordant for phenotypic sex: mosaicism versus chimerism. Fertil Steril 47:626633.Google Scholar
10. Schmidt, R, Sobel, EH, Nitowsky, HM, Dar, H, Allen, FH (1976): Monozygotic twins discordant for sex. J Med Genet 13:6467.Google Scholar
11. Turpin, R, Lejeune, J, Lafourcade, J, Chigot, PL, Salmon, C (1961): Présomption de monozygotisme en dépit d'un dimorphisme sexuel: sujet masculin XY et sujet neutre haplo X. Comp Rend 252:29452946.Google Scholar