The and Variants are Associated with Multiple Sclerosis: A Study on Iranian Population.

Background: Studies have shown that MS results from synergism between genetic and environmental factors. As a genetic factor, the variant through the regulatory effect on the expression is involved in the MS development. In addition, vitamin D deficiency through involvement of variant of has shown to play important role in the risk of MS.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate both the and variants with risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Iranian population.

Materials And Methods: The and variants were genotyped in 82 Iranian Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients and 100 matched healthy controls, using the PCR-RFLP method. The genotype and allele frequencies were calculated and statistically analyzed.

Results: A significant difference was found in the allele distribution for the both and variants, such that the A allele of and the C allele of were found to be more frequent in MS patients than in the healthy controls (p-value: 0.009, OR: 2.264, 95% CI: 1.211-4.231 and p-value: 0.028 OR: 1.594, 95% CI: 1.052-2.415), respectively.

Conclusions: The present research results provide further evidence on the association of the two variants of the and of the gene with MS etiology and an increased risk of MS in Iranian RRMS patients. However, further large-scale investigations in various ethnicities and in the functional genomics level are demanded to confirm our findings.