Presse Med 2001 Dec 8;30(37):1844-7
Cournu-Rebeix I, Lesca G, Tubridy
N, Azoulay-Cayla A, Lyon-Caen O, Fontaine B; Groupe Francais de Recherche
Genetique sur la SEP.
Federation de Neurologie et INSERM
U546, Groupe Hospitalier et Faculte de Medecine Pitie-Salpetriere, Paris.
GENERAL DATA:
The clinical manifestations and neuropathological
signs of multiple sclerosis have been recognized for more than one hundred
years, but the cause remains unknown.
EPIDEMIOLOGY:
Multiple sclerosis is not evenly
distributed throughout the world. There is an important north-south gradient
in the northern hemisphere and inversely in the southern hemisphere; multiple
sclerosis is more frequent in the higher altitudes. For a given latitude,
there is a difference by ethnic origin. These observations indicate that
multiple sclerosis is a multifactorial condition determined by both genetic
and environmental factors.
STRATEGIES OF GENETIC STUDIES:
Progress in our knowledge of the
human genome and statistical analysis techniques have made it possible
to search for genetic factors in multiple sclerosis using two complementary
approaches. The first is by anonymous screening and the second is to search
for a candidate gene. The HLA locus is the only one with an identified
predisposing effect for multiple sclerosis. It only accounts for 10 to
20% of the genetic predisposition for multiple sclerosis and many factors
remain to be discovered.
PMID: 11776707 [PubMed - in process]