The HLA locus and multiple sclerosis in Sicily

The authors report the analysis of HLA-class II allelic heterogeneity in a well characterized multiple sclerosis (MS) Sicilian dataset. Family-based association analysis revealed evidence for excess transmission to affected individuals for alleles HLA-DRB1*1501, DRB1*04, and DQB1*0302. When analyzed as haplotypes, the authors observed excess transmission for the DRB1*0400-DQB1*0302 haplotype. Sicilian patients share the HLA-DRB1*1501 susceptibility allele with affecteds living in continental Italy, but also display the allelic heterogeneity that characterizes Mediterranean populations.