Normality of colour vision in a compound heterozygous female carrying a protan and deutan defect

摘要

BackgroundInherited red-green colour vision defects are quite common, affecting nearly 1 in 10 males, but are less common in women, affecting about 1 in 250. However because red-green defects are X-linked, nearly 15% of females are heterozygous carriers of red-green colour deficiency. In addition, about 1 in 150 females are “double carriers”, where both of their X chromosomes have L/M gene arrays encoding a red-green defect. If a woman carries the same type of colour vision defect on each X-chromosome, she herself will be red-green colour deficient, whereas if she carries opposing defects (protan vs. deutan) on each X chromosome she will be trichromatic, owing to the process of X-inactivation. These women are referred to as compound heterozygotes, though very few have been reported. Moreover, questions remain as to whether the colour vision capacity of these women is comparable to that of “normal” trichromats.