CTLA-4 and CD28 gene polymorphisms in susceptibility, clinical course and progression of multiple sclerosis.

The balance between CD28 and CTLA-4 signalling is important for regulation of the immune response. We were interested whether a genetically mediated disturbance of this balance could be related to susceptibility or severity of multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined three polymorphisms in these genes, CTLA-4-318, CTLA-4+49 and CD28-I3+17, in 514 patients with MS and 181 controls. As the loci cannot be assumed independent of each other, we analysed the effects of each of the three polymorphisms corrected for the presence of the other two. We found no association between carriership of any of the alleles either with susceptibility to MS or with clinical features. For a subgroup of patients, longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were available. We observed no effects of the polymorphisms on brain and lesion volumes. These data suggest that the polymorphisms under investigation do not affect the risk of developing MS and have no influence on the course of disease.