A large international effort in analysing the genome of thousands of people with MS has found many new genes influencing MS development
2011
This study has been in the making for many years. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust and The International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium have collaborated to map and compare the genome (all or most of the genes of a person) of 9,772 people with MS of European descent with that of control people without the disease. This is done to assess how genetic variations are associated with the development of MS.
Several important findings came out of the study, published in one of the world’s most important science journals, Nature. The researchers replicated most of the previously known genetic assocations, but also found another 29 that were not known. The most important findings were:
The study provides an important blueprint for further MS research, highlighting which factors are worth exploring further.
As reported on the 7.30 Report in response to this paper, genes responsible for vitamin D metabolism were noted in the study, prompting immunologist Professor Graeme Stewart, to say “There is an extremely strong case for a trial of giving people sizeable doses of vitamin D from the time of their first episode of multiple sclerosis”.
At OMS we would say the evidence is already so strong that it is only sensible for people with MS to already supplement with vitamin D and not await further clinical trials. And we would go further, and recommend starting vitamin D supplementation immediately for people at risk of getting MS, that is those in places distant from the equator with little sunlight, and relatives of people with MS.
You can read the full study here.
Published December 18, 2012
Douglas Goodin, a neurologist in California, has developed a mathematical model based on known research, that clearly shows the genetic background to the development of MS.
The paper goes on to examine the environmental factors known to increase the risk of developing MS for those who have the genetic susceptibility;
While the mathematics is complex, the paper makes very interesting reading.