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  • Letter to the Editor
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Response to Jabalameli

Genes & Immunity volume 12, page 156 (2011)Cite this article

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We are very pleased to know that our results have been object of interest, although we would like to clarify some details. First, the Introduction of our paper1 indicates the selection basis of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms genotyped: ‘Two of them were previously associated with IBD: rs744166… and rs12948909. The other two were analyzed on the basis of their suggestive associations with more than one disease in the publicly available data of the GWAS performed by the Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium, although they did not exceed the threshold of statistical significance.’ The hypothesis driving this selection was to test whether STAT3 joined the group of genes showing shared susceptibility to different immune-mediated diseases.

Second, when our work was published no discrepancy was found with previously published reports on the association of STAT3 polymorphisms with multiple sclerosis (MS). The meta-analysis by De Jager et al.,2 which included two genome-wide studies on MS,3, 4 observed an initial association with rs2293152 that could not be replicated by them in an independent cohort. Simultaneously to the publication of our work in Genes and Immunity (Epub 2010 Mar 4),1 another article dealing with the association of STAT3 polymorphisms with MS (Am J Hum Genet 2010 Feb 12) was published by Jakkula et al.5 This is, to the best of our knowledge, the only report showing an association of the STAT3 gene with MS. Although we also studied the STAT3-rs744166 polymorphism, no evidence of association with MS was detected in our cohorts. Nonetheless, we were cautious about the discussion of our results: ‘In contrast with present results in the inflammatory bowel diseases, no influence of these STAT3 polymorphisms on MS risk was observed in our cohorts…’ In the light of the overall published results, a door remains open for further testing the genuine role of STAT3-rs744166 polymorphism in MS susceptibility.

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References

  1. Cénit MC, Alcina A, Márquez A, Mendoza JL, Díaz-Rubio M, de las Heras V et al. STAT3 locus in inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis susceptibility. Genes Immun 2010; 11: 264–268.

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  5. Jakkula E, Leppä V, Sulonen AM, Varilo T, Kallio S, Kemppinen A et al. Genome-wide association study in a high-risk isolate for multiple sclerosis reveals associated variants in STAT3 gene. Am J Hum Genet 2010; 86: 285–291.

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  1. Department of Immunology, Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain

    E Urcelay

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  1. E Urcelay
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Correspondence to E Urcelay.

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Urcelay, E. Response to Jabalameli. Genes Immun 12, 156 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2010.60

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