Lill CM. Recent advances and future challenges in the genetics of multiple sclerosis.
Front Neurol 2014;
5:130. [PMID:
25071715 PMCID:
PMC4094909 DOI:
10.3389/fneur.2014.00130]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/01/2014] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common auto-inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, affecting more than 2 million individuals worldwide. It is a genetically complex disease, in which a substantial part of a person’s liability to develop MS is caused by a combination of multiple genetic and non-genetic (e.g., environmental) risk factors. Increasing this complexity, many of the involved risk factors likely interact in an intricate and hitherto ill-defined fashion. Despite these complexities, and owing greatly to the advent and application of large-scale genome-wide association studies, our understanding of the genetic factors underlying MS etiology has begun to gain unprecedented momentum. In this perspective, I will summarize some recent advances and outline future challenges in MS genetics research.
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