MS severity-influencing genes found (using Accelerated Cure Project DNA samples)

Genetic researchers in Syracuse, NY have identified gene variants that may affect severity of MS. They were trying to confirm previous findings that linked genes in the CCL cluster on chromosome 17 with a higher risk of MS, but those results couldn't be replicated. However, when they analyzed the data for severity, they found variants in the CCL8 gene that were more frequent in subjects with "severe" MS compared with subjects with "mild" MS. CCL genes play a role in the immune response, so these results suggest that factors that influence immune responses may also influence the severity of MS.

This study is of particular interest to us at Accelerated Cure Project because the samples used included DNA samples from our sample and data repository. In fact, this is the first published journal article that mentions our repository as a source of samples. We expect there will be many more!