HLA-DRB1*15 association with multiple sclerosis is confirmed in a multigenerational Italian family

Funct Neurol. 2017 Apr/Jun;32(2):83-88. doi: 10.11138/fneur/2017.32.2.083.

Abstract

Environmental and genetic factors seem to play a pathogenetic role in multiple sclerosis (MS). The genetic component is partly suggested by familial aggregation of cases; however, MS families with affected subjects over different generations have rarely been described. The aim of this study was to report clinical and genetic features of a multigenerational MS family and to perform a review of the literature on this topic. We describe a multigenerational Italian family with six individuals affected by MS, showing different clinical and neuroradiological findings. HLA-DRB1* typing revealed the presence of the DRB1*15:01 allele in all the MS cases and in 4/5 non-affected subjects. Reports on six multigenerational MS families have previously been published, giving similar results. The HLA-DRB1*15:01 allele was confirmed to be linked to MS disease in this family; moreover, its presence in non-affected subjects suggests the involvement of other susceptibility factors in the development and expression of the disease, in accordance with the complex disease model now attributed to MS.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Databases, Bibliographic / statistics & numerical data
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Family Health*
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
  • Genetic Testing
  • Genotype
  • HLA-DRB1 Chains / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Italy
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diagnosis
  • Multiple Sclerosis / ethnology
  • Multiple Sclerosis / genetics*
  • Multiple Sclerosis / physiopathology
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • HLA-DRB1 Chains
  • HLA-DRB1*15 antigen