Genes Immun. 2004 Jan;5(1):72-5
Coppin H, Ribouchon MT, Fontaine B, Edan G, Clanet M, Roth MP.
Unite de Physiopathologie Cellulaire et Moleculaire, Toulouse, France.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system.
Evidence from family studies indicates a strong genetic component.
Despite many studies of candidate genes, only an association with the HLA-DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602 haplotype has been generally detected, and HLA linkage established by transmission disequilibrium testing.
A genome-wide scan revealed suggestive linkage of MS with markers on chromosome 7p15 in HLA-DR15-nonsharing British families, in a region syntenic to a locus predisposing to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in the rat.
We therefore tested the 7p15 region as a candidate region for genetic susceptibility to MS in 104 French families with at least two affected siblings.
We found evidence suggestive of a predisposing locus in families in which only one affected sibling or none of them carry the HLA-DR15 allele.
Comparison of the results of the British and French groups suggests that the region of interest can be narrowed to a 2.45-cM interval.