New Research Identifies Genes Linked to Multiple Sclerosis
Updated July 2007: Researchers have made a significant advance in understanding multiple sclerosis, which is a neurological disorder in which the nerves of the eye, brain and spinal cord lose myelin. Multiple sclerosis can have symptoms from mild muscle weakness to paralysis.
The disorder has the immune system attack the electrical insulation of nerve fibers. Researchers know the disease is caused partly by genes and partially by environment, but have not been able to identify the relevant genes.
So far researchers have been guessing which genes might be involved with the disease. These assumptions have produced over 100 ‘could be’ genes that could not be confirmed.
But, the New England Journal of Medicine has recently published three articles that say new genetic variants which contribute to the multiple sclerosis have been found. The researchers scanned the entire genome of more than 12,000 people for multiple sclerosis risk factors.
Three different teams used different gene-hunting methods and all identified the same gene. The gene produces a substance called interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7), which is a protein that enables cells of the immune system to respond to a control agent. The researchers think that this receptor is part of a biochemical pathway that involves many genes and any defect in any of these genes could help cause the disease. The discovery gives researchers a pathway to possibly finding a cure for the disease.
Researchers also identified another gene from the genome scan that could be linked to multiple sclerosis. The gene is called IL-2 receptor and has been linked to two other autoimmune diseases; type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease.