title: Lack of association between the interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF1) locus at 5q31.1 and multiple sclerosis in Germany, northern Italy, Sardinia and Sweden.
abstract: Interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) is a transcriptional inducer of the interferon-beta (IFN-beta) gene and other interferon-stimulated genes. A GT repeat polymorphism in the 7th intron of the IRF-1 gene was used as a marker to test for association with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a case-control study including individuals from Germany, Northern Italy and Sweden. In none of these populations, did we find any significant allelic association with disease. This lack of association was confirmed by testing transmission disequilibrium of individual IRF1 alleles in a representative sample of Sardinian simplex MS families. No deviation of the expected 50% transmission rates was seen. Therefore, our work does not provide evidence in favor of IRF1 being a candidate for conferring genetic susceptibility to, or protection against, MS in Europe.
authors.affiliation: Rega Institute for Medical Research, University of Leuven, Belgium. k.vandenbroeck@qub.ac.uk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vandenbroeck
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hardt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Louage
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fiten
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jäckel
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ronsse
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Epplen
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Marrosu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Billiau
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Opdenakker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002895:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D050856:Interferon Regulatory Factor-1; D007372:Interferons / Q000502:physiology; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C494257:IRF1 protein, human; D050856:Interferon Regulatory Factor-1; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D007372:Interferons