Research published in the journal Nature warns that a genetic variant is the one that worsens multiple sclerosis in people who suffer from it. Of seven million variants, only one was associated with rapid disease progression
Text: RFI / AFP
A genetic variant is responsible for the worsening of multiple sclerosis, according to scientific research that could lead to a new drug against that disease.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the result of a body being attacked by its own immune system, resulting in a variety of symptoms including vision, movement and balance problems.
For some people, symptoms may come and go through relapses, while others get progressively worse.
There are treatments that can help control the symptoms, but there is no cure or way to delay the worsening of the disease.
A study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the result of a broad collaboration of researchers from more than 70 institutes around the world, announced for the first time a genetic variant linked to the severity of MS.
First, the researchers combined genetic data from 12,000 people with MS to study which variants they shared and how quickly their disease progressed.
Out of seven million variants, only one was associated with rapid disease progression.
The variant lies between two genes called DYSF and ZNF638, which until now have not been linked to MS, according to the study.
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The first gene works to repair damaged cells, while the other helps control viral infections.
Those genes are much more active in the brain and spinal cord than in the immune system, where drug research has focused until now, according to the study.
To confirm their findings, the researchers investigated the wealth of another 10,000 patients and found similar results.
“Inheriting this genetic variant from both parents advances by almost four years the time when a person will need help to walk,” US researcher and study co-author Sergio Baranzini said in a statement.
Ruth Dobson, a neuroscientist at Queen Mary University of London, who was not involved in the research, told AFP there was “a lot of enthusiasm for this study” among MS specialists.
“It’s the first step to finding treatments that work in a different way,” he said, stressing that any drug was a long way from being available.
The fact that the research is targeting the nervous system, rather than the immune system, as a target “opens up a potential new avenue for treatments, which is really exciting,” he added.
More than 2.8 million people around the world suffer from multiple sclerosis.
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