Stephan Neidhart, Benjamin Vlad, Marc Hilty, Klara Asplund Högelin, Mario Ziegler, Ernesto Berenjeno-Correa, Ina Reichen, Pernilla Stridh, Ivan Jelcic, Mohsen Khademi, Ingrid Kockum, Mireia Sospedra, Faiez Al Nimer, Roland Martin, Ilijas Jelcic
OBJECTIVE: Specific human leucocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are not only associated with higher risk to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases, but also with the severity of various viral and bacterial infections. Here, we analyzed the most specific biomarker for MS, that is, the polyspecific intrathecal IgG antibody production against measles, rubella, and varicella zoster virus (MRZ reaction), for possible HLA associations in MS. METHODS: We assessed MRZ reaction from 184 Swiss patients with MS and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and 89 Swiss non-MS/non-CIS control patients, and performed HLA sequence-based typing, to check for associations of positive MRZ reaction with the most prevalent HLA alleles...
March 29, 2024: Annals of Neurology