This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Three gene variants have been found to correlate with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, according to findings of the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium (IMSGC) presented here at the 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (ANA).

Variants of interleukin 2RA, interleukin 7RA and CD58 were found to correlate with multiple sclerosis in a whole genome analysis that included about 4,500 participants. "The same finding has been reported in two other papers as well," noted Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, representing the IMSGC. "How these variants exert their effects is not known, and [will] become the subject of numerous investigations."

Dr. De Jager said that recent advances in genotyping technology and in our understanding of the structure of the human genome have enabled the execution of whole-genome-association scans for the first time. The IMSGC assayed approximately 70% of common genetic variation for their role in multiple sclerosis susceptibility.

First-degree relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis were screened to identify those at high risk. "These individuals could then be followed by a neurologist and undergo appropriate imaging. If genetic variants were identified, their pathways could be targeted using existing or future medications," Dr. De Jager speculated.

The screening sample consisted of 931 affected families, each containing a subject with multiple sclerosis and her biological parents. Half of participants in the study were from the United States, half from the United Kingdom.

Multiple sclerosis is twice as prevalent among populations of northern European descent than among other groups, with Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland seeing the highest rates of the disease. Also, Sardinia has a higher rate of multiple sclerosis than other parts of Italy, said Dr. De Jager.

"Duplication of these same results in 10,000 subjects will be definitive," concluded Dr. De Jager. "The samples exist and the analysis should be completed in 2008."

Source: Presentation title: Whole Genome Association Screen in Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract 621 (15/10/07)

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Dom

Although I have not been a strong believer in a genetic component for MS, lately my opinions have been changing. Most recently I have read the book, The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner, in which he writes on page 32:

About my own genetics, I know only that in my high school biology class (studying genetic traits) all of us students chewed a piece of specially treated paper, which would identify those students who carried the dominant gene allowing them to taste the bitter flavor of PTC (phenylthiocarbamide), and those who could not (I was in this group). According to my reading I have learned that this sensitivity to this kind of taste is due almost entirely to a single gene.

Now I am curious to know if Sardinians with MS have the G version of the TAS2R38 gene, which is dominant and allows bitter taste perception. For that matter, I wonder if anyone else here knows which form of this gene he possesses.

Or does anyone know how to interest Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States in investigating this?

I think another population that needs to be studied more closely is in Okinawa, where the prevalence of MS is miniscule. I think this is mainly due to diet: http://www.truehealth.org/okinawadiet.html

The diet in that country commonly includes go-ya (a.k.a. bitter melon), which is extremely bitter and resembles a cucumber with warts. I understand that the bitter spice mugwort (nothing to do with Harry Potter) is frequently used (in rice), too.

I recall that Dr. Terry Wahls, as she said in her Canadian presentation in October ( http://wildhorse.insinc.com/directms05oct2009/ ), eats 6 cups of kale per day. Kale is a dark green, bitter leafy vegetable.

I start to think that the perception of a bitter taste is important. Could this signal the pancreas to stop producing insulin? I can find kale in the Midwest fairly easily, but I may have to find an Okinawa grocery for a bitter melon. Does anyone have any good recipes for kale (or bitter melon)?

Continuing along the lines of my previous two posts, I am now reading the book, The Okinawa Program by Bradley Willcox, M.D., Craig Willcox, PhD, & Makoto Suzuki, M.D. Although there is no mention of MS specifically, it has a wealth of information useful to us who are interested in diet and supplementation. And it is filled with scientific references!

I recommend it for your reading.

Lyndacarol
Kale is the vegetable with the highest highest ORAC rating:
Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities in biological samples in vitro.

back on the thread's tack:
the above genetic study was 2007--more was to be done, and finished in 2008--
any info on the follow-up?

Here's some more recent work:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... 596859.htm

In a nutshell, genes involved in vitamin D metabolism are different in PwMS (specifically gene CD 40 on chromosome 20, and probably gene CYP27P1 on chromosome 12).

thanks HWebb
so, back to Vit D again!