Gene link with MS discovered

An international team of researchers led by Justin Rubio from the The Howard Florey Institute have identified genes that influence susceptibility to the autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis (MS).

One of the genes, CYP27B1, is linked with vitamin D, reinforcing the idea that there's a link between the vitamin and MS.

“One of the two genes is most likely a gene which control metabolism of vitamin D,” says co-author, Professor Matthew Brown of the University of Queensland's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine.

“Previous research has already shown that levels of vitamin D influence the risk of people contracting MS. For example, people have a higher risk the further they live from the Equator. This instantly suggests that a possible preventative treatment for MS is vitamin D," he said. “This may lead to new types of therapeutics down the track.”

MS affects predominantly young adults of European ancestry, causing recurrent or progressive impairment of nerve function due to an attack by the immune system on the myelin protein sheaths that insulate the nerves. It affects around 18,000 Australians.

The disease is thought to occur after the immune system of a genetically susceptible person is activated by an environmental trigger, which might be a viral infection. But key to understanding MS is knowing which genes are involved.

The studies are published online in this week's Nature Genetics.