Search for coeliac disease susceptibility loci on 7q11.23 candidate region: Absence of association with the ELN17 microsatellite marker

The involvement of HLA genes in the susceptibility to coeliac disease (CD) has been well documented and represents the only consistently observed gene tic feature of this multifactorial disease, In the present study, the searc h for new susceptibility genes has been devoted to a candidate region sugge sted by the association of CD with Williams syndrome (WS). This genetic dis order is due to a deletion in the 7q11.23 region that includes the elastin (ELN) gene, An increased prevalence of CD in WS patients has been previousl y reported and a case of CD-WS is also described in the present study, We u sed the ELN17 microsatellite marker mapped within the ELN gene to look for a possible contribution of this region to the susceptibility to CD. The ana lysis of 74 Italian CD families provided no evidence of association with th e ELN17 marker. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.