Multiple sclerosis

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Multiple sclerosis is considered to be an autoimmune disorder in which a person's immune system damages their central nervous system, causing a wide variety of symptoms including difficulties moving. It is also the most common neurologic disease affecting young adults. Wikipedia has an excellent overview.

Most SNPs associated with multiple sclerosis are located in genes playing roles in the immune system. The main allele implicated to date is known as HLA-DRB1*1501, a Class II member of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). An HLA-DRB1 SNP that is highly correlated with HLA-DRB1*1501, and thus multiple sclerosis, is rs3135388. A recent hypothesis is that a possible way to reduce the frequency of rs3135388(T) carriers developing multiple sclerosis would be to ensure sufficient vitamin D production, presumably through sunlight exposure, during as yet unknown critical periods in development.10.1371/journal.pgen.1000369

An algorithm has been developed combining 16 SNPs that appears to "modestly predict" multiple sclerosis risk.[PMID 19879194]

For individual risk, less pronounced yet still statistically significant increased risk has been reported for the following SNPs [PMID 17660530]:

Additional SNPs (from other studies) include:


[PMID 18285424] rs4728142, rs3807306 and a 5 bp insertion-deletion linked multiple sclerosis in three populations