Short communication Parental non-inherited HLA resistance alleles do not confer protection against multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex trait in which alleles at or near the class II loci HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 contribute significantly to genetic risk. HLA-DRB1⁎14 and DRB1⁎11 bearing haplotypes protect against MS and DRB1⁎01 and DRB1⁎10 interact with DRB1⁎15 to reduce risk of the disease. Recent work in other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has suggested that maternal non-transmitted protective alleles can also confer disease resistance. In this investigation of 7093 individuals from 1432 MS families, we have analysed the transmission of HLA-DRB1⁎14,⁎11,⁎10 and ⁎01 haplotypes, stratified by sex of parent. No significant transmission differences between mothers and fathers were found, suggesting that noninherited resistance alleles do not appear to play a role in MS. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.