Restriction Genes for Retroviruses Influence the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

<div><p>We recently described that the autoimmune, central nervous system disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), is genetically associated with the human endogenous retroviral locus, HERV-Fc1, in Scandinavians. A number of dominant human genes encoding factors that restrict retrovirus replication have been known for a long time. Today human restriction genes for retroviruses include amongst others <i>TRIMs, APOBEC3s, BST2</i> and <i>TREXs</i>. We have therefore looked for a role of these retroviral restriction genes in MS using genetic epidemiology. We here report that markers in two <i>TRIMs</i>, <i>TRIM5</i> and <i>TRIM22</i> and a marker in <i>BST2</i>, associated statistically with the risk of getting MS, while markers in or near <i>APOBEC3s</i> and <i>TREXs</i> showed little or no effect. This indicates that the two <i>TRIMs</i> and <i>BST2</i> influence the risk of disease and thus supports the hypothesis of a viral involvement. </p> </div