MYELIN OLIGODENDROCYTE GLYCOPROTEIN (MOG) GENE POLYMORPHISMS AND MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS - NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE ASSOCIATION WITH MOG

The region surrounding the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) g ene, located telomeric to the major histocompatibility complex on chro mosome 6, was shown to contain three highly informative microsatellite s. To examine the potential role of variants of the MOG gene in suscep tibility to multiple sclerosis, these CA-repeat polymorphic markers we re characterized on a sample of 169 multiple sclerosis patients and 17 3 healthy unrelated individuals by a method combining fluorescence lab elling of PCR products and use of an automated DNA sequencer, Both pat ients and controls lived in the southwest of France (in the Pyrenees-A tlantiques) and had similar ethnic background. The distribution of the MOG haplotypes was not significantly different in the two groups (P = 0.38). This is not in favour of the implication of the MOG gene in th e genetic component of multiple sclerosis, unless different independen t mutations have occurred within this gene.