The interleukin-1 gene family in multiple sclerosis susceptibility and disease course

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of presumed auto immune origin with a considerable polygenic influence. We have previously observed that a specific allele combination in genes of the inter leukin-1 (IL-1) family influenced the progression rate in MS. We have considerably expanded our patient population (492 MS patients and 228 controls). In the present study, we investigated the role of the IL-1A-889, IL-1B=511, IL-1B+3953 and IL-1RN VNTR gene polymorphisms in MS. In addition, we per formed preliminary analyses on longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. We found no associations between the polymorphisms and susceptibility to MS or clinical features. In addition, we observed no significant effect of the polymorphisms on brain or lesion volumes, Based on our data and those from the literature, one can conclude that there is currently no evidence to support a role for the IL-1 genes in MS.