THE MYELIN BASIC-PROTEIN GENE IS NOT A MAJOR SUSCEPTIBILITY LOCUS FORMULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS IN ITALIAN PATIENTS

To verify whether multiallelic polymorphism adjacent to the gene encod ing for myelin basic protein is associated with or linked to multiple sclerosis in Italians, we studied 54 sporadic patients, 55 control sub jects and is families with two or more affected individuals. Allelic t yping was carried out by analysis of fragment length polymorphisms aft er DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction. The presence of linkage with the disease was tested according to either autosomal dom inant or autosomal recessive modes of inheritance, and with or without the introduction of liability classes accounting for the age of the i ndividuals. Furthermore sib-pair analysis was performed in II siblings . No evidence for association or linkage between the myelin basic prot ein gene polymorphism and multiple sclerosis was found. Our data indic ate that in the Italian population the myelin basic protein gene does not play a major role in conferring genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis, and suggest that the latter is a heterogeneous phenomenon, possibly influenced by the different ethnic origin of the populations which have been investigated.