Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN) is a proxy for mitochondrial function and has been of increasing interest to the mitochondrial research community. There are several ways to measure mtDNA-CN, ranging from whole genome sequencing to qPCR. A recent article from the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics described a novel method for measuring mtDNA-CN that is both inexpensive and reproducible. However, we show that certain individuals, particularly those with very low qPCR mtDNA measurements, show poor concordance between qPCR and whole genome sequencing measurements. After examining whole genome sequencing data, this seems to be due to polymorphisms within the D-loop primer region. Non-concordant mtDNA-CN was observed in all instances of polymorphisms at certain positions in the D-loop primer regions, however, not all positions are susceptible to this effect. In particular, these polymorphisms appear disproportionately in individuals with the L, T, and U mitochondrial haplogroups, indicating non-random dropout.
Mitochondrial DNA copy number is associated with risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese population