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HLA-DRB1*15 allele influences the later course of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Most of the published works so far have aimed at finding genes associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. Very few studies have attempted to correlate disease features with DNA variants. In a well-characterized sample (651 patients) representative of multiple sclerosis natural history, we engaged a comprehensive study of the role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) in the course of the disease. We investigated the role of HLA-DRB1*15 allele in samples stratified according to severity evaluated by the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS), time to reach EDSS 6.0 and disease type. We found that HLA-DRB1*15 genotype does not influence MS severity even among patients presenting with a given type of the disease. However, we show for the first time that HLA-DRB1*15 allele modulates the course of MS for relapsing–remitting (RR) onset patients likely by precipitating the secondary progressive (SP) phase.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from INSERM (Réseau de Recherche Clinique), the Association pour la Recherche sur la SEP (ARSEP), groupe Malakoff, Biogen Idec, the Association Française contre les Myopathies (AFM) and AP-HP (contrat interface ICR). We acknowledge the active collaboration of members of the REFGENSEP (Réseau Français d'Etude Génétique de la SEP), Généthon and Centre d'Investigation Clinique Pitié-Salpêtrière.

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Correspondence to B Fontaine.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on Genes and Immunity website (http://www.nature.com/gene)

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Cournu-Rebeix, I., Génin, E., Leray, E. et al. HLA-DRB1*15 allele influences the later course of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Genes Immun 9, 570–574 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2008.52

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