November 12, 2016

ocean from cliff seals distance

Our children. We love them. Protect them. Inspire and motivate them (unless they are teens!).

But are we unwittingly and unwillingly giving them more than our good looks and intellect.

Can our MS be their unwanted inheritance?

This is difficult to answer. There is one really good piece of research, Familial clustering of multiple sclerosis in a Dutch genetic isolate.

  • researchers were challenged, because they require geneology records over multiple generations.
  • looked at the clustering of MS with other autoimmune diseases
  • they had a special emphasis of the co-occurance of MS with Type 1 diabetes or autoimmune thyroid diseases

They identified 48 genetically isolated individuals. The boring stats are:

  • 11 of the 48 (11%) reported either a 1st or 2nd degree relative with MS.
  • the clinical age at diagnosis/gender/disease course did not show any significant difference between patients within the group and patients that couldn’t be linked to a common ancestor.
  • 1/48 had autoimmune thyroid disease
  • 7/361 of the 1st degree relatives had autoimmune thyroid.

Now the good news is that was 1.9% which is similar to the English population of 2.5%.

A separate study Is Multiple Sclerosis a Mitochondrial Disease suggested that MS is an interplay of environmental triggers and genetic susceptibility factors.

That is, while the actual inheritance pattern is unknown, that siblings and children of people with multiple sclerosis are at higher risk.

That there is a complex ‘genetic etiology’ for multiple sclerosis, which includes multiple genes of small to moderate effect. The impact of environmental factors, such as sunlight, and incident of virus such as the Epstein Barr virus and Corona virus cannot be discounted.

The US National Library of Medicine, Genetics Home Reference identifies five genes linked to multiple sclerosis -

  • CYPZ7B1 - which converts Vitamin D to active form
  • IL2RA
  • IL7R - produces a receptor embedded in the cell rather than in the cell membrane which stimulates growth / division / survival of immune cells
  • TNFRSF1A - signal from TNFR1 protein can trigger inflamation or self destruction of the cell

And MS Research Australia reported an international research project tht identified 48 previously unknown genes as linked to multiple sclerosis.

This included genes associated with vitamin d with higher activity in people with multiple sclerosis that varies by season, matching monthly ultra violet light.

My conclusion

So, can MS be inherited? There is no definitive answer. Certainly not one that isolates genes from environment and/or diet.

In fact, there seems to be acceptance that multiple sclerosis is complex, and the function, or interplay, of various genetic and environmental factors.

I’m taking it as MS is not a death sentence for me, or my kids. But I hope they get my good diet as well as my fabulous looks.

References

Mao, Peizhong; Reddy, P. Hemachandra; ‘Is Multiple Sclerosis a Mitochondrial Disease’, Biochim Brophys Acta, 2010 ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/multiple-sclerosis#genes Hoppenbrouwers IA1, Cortes LM, Aulchenko YS, Sintnicolaas K, Njajou O, Snijders PJ, Oostra BA, van Duijn CM, Hintzen RQ; ‘Familial clustering of multiple sclerosis in a Dutch genetic isolate’; Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 2013