J Neuroimmunol. 2003 Dec;145(1-2):135-8
Miyagishi R, Niino M, Fukazawa T, Yabe I, Kikuchi S, Tashiro K.
Department of Neurology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine,
Kita-15 Nishi-7, Sapporo 060-8638, Hokkaido, Kita, Japan
C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) is a receptor for chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and associated with infiltrating lymphocytes in chronic active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions.
To study the role of CCR2 gene in the development of MS, we investigated the CCR2-64I polymorphism in 122 MS patients and 112 healthy controls in a Japanese population.
We also analysed the influence of CCR2-64I polymorphism on the clinical course, age at disease onset, and severity.
The distribution of the CCR2-64I allele was significantly different between patients and controls (p=0.0187), and the 64I/64I homozygote was significantly less common in MS than in control.
Logistic analysis, adjusted for HLA-DRB1*1501-positivity, revealed negative association between the CCR2-64I and MS (p=0.0204).
There were no significant associations between CCR2 polymorphism and the clinical features of MS.
Our results indicate that the presence of CCR2-64I allele seems to provide protection against the development of MS.