Major advance in understanding the biological mechanisms associated with multiple sclerosis. An international team of researchers has in fact identified 29 additional genetic variants associated with this particular debilitating neurological disease that affects nearly 2.5 million people worldwide. 23 variants were already known and identified.
So after studying the DNA of 9,772 people with multiple sclerosis and 17 376 subjects of "healthy" the researchers identified 29 new genetic variants as those involved in predisposition to disease. Five additional variants are also strongly suspected. They will be the subject of further study.
"A large number of genes identified by this work are critical in the immune system, especially in T cell function and in the activation of interleukin (mediators of immune cells)," the researchers said in a release.
Note that a third of these genes are already implicated in other autoimmune diseases, indicating an immune process common to these diseases (Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes).
Of these 29 new genes identified by two researchers involved in the metabolism of vitamin D. In the past previous work suggested a higher risk of multiple sclerosis in precisely those deficient in vitamin D.
The results of this study thus open new avenues for understanding the disease and search for new treatments.