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Disseminated BCG disease and recurrent pulmonary infections in a child with trisomy 21 carrying a novel BACH2 variant of uncertain significance: a 5-year case report

Diana Marangu, Brian Maugo, Rita Afriye Boateng

Frontiers in Medicine, 2026

Abstract

Background Trisomy 21 is associated with combined immune dysregulation, including lymphopenia, impaired responses to vaccines, and heightened susceptibility to respiratory infections, driven in part by triplication of chromosome 21-encoded interferon receptor genes. BACH2 haploinsufficiency is a rare monogenic immunodeficiency characterized by lymphopenia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases. Co-occurrence of these two conditions has not been previously described. Case presentation We report a 5-year longitudinal course in a Kenyan girl with trisomy 21, congenital heart disease, aspiration, and severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) found via whole exome sequencing to carry a heterozygous BACH2 missense variant (c.1420C > G;p.Leu474Val) of uncertain significance; parental segregation remains incomplete. In silico protein structural modeling (FoldX and Missense3D) yielded discordant predictions of the variant's effect on the protein’s stability and structure. Additional in silico pathogenicity predictions were also inconsistent: Sorting Intolerant from Tolerant (SIFT), Evolutionary Model of Variant Effect (EVE), PolyPhen-2, and CADD Phred scores predicted pathogenicity, while REVEL and AlphaMissense suggested a lack of deleteriousness. Persistent panlymphopenia and profoundly low IgM levels were documented throughout the follow-up period. Over these 5 years, the girl sustained six hospitalized lower respiratory tract…

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