REVIEW ARTICLE


Non-HLA Genes and Multiple Sclerosis



Jamilah Borjac1, #, Alaa Matar2, 3, #, Maxime Merheb4, Cijo George Vazhappilly4, Rachel Matar4, *
1 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Debbieh, Lebanon
2 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Public Health, Jinan University, Tripoli, Lebanon
3 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Beirut Arab University, Tripoli, Lebanon
4 Department of Biotechnology, American University of Ras Al Khaimah AURAK, Ras Al Khaimah, P.O Box 10021, United Arab Emirates


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
0
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 211
Abstract HTML Views: 107
PDF Downloads: 132
ePub Downloads: 69
Total Views/Downloads: 519
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 153
Abstract HTML Views: 82
PDF Downloads: 104
ePub Downloads: 61
Total Views/Downloads: 400



Creative Commons License
© 2023 Borjac et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address Correspondence to this author at the Department of Biotechnology, American University of Ras Al Khaimah AURAK, Ras Al Khaimah, P.O Box 10021, United Arab Emirates; E-mail: rachel.matar@yahoo.fr
#These authors have contributed equally


Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Identification of genetic variants that pose risks to MS is of high interest since they contribute largely to disease pathogenesis. A rich body of literature associated these risks with variants of HLA genes located mostly on the short arm of chromosome 6 (6p21). These genetic variations may result in alteration in protein function and are associated, therefore, with disease phenotype and therapy outcome. Although the HLA region has been routinely known to have the strongest correlation with MS, other genes found within and outside HLA locus are considered risk factors for MS. The objective of this review is to shed light on the non-HLA genes implicated with multiple sclerosis. Due to the interplay between the polygenetic and environmental factors, along with their differential contribution and genetic heterogeneity among populations, it is extremely challenging to determine the contribution of the non-HLA genes to the outcome and onset of MS disease. We conclude that a better assemblage of genetic factors involved in MS can have a critical impact on the establishment of a genetic map of MS that allows proper investigation at the expression and functional levels.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Non-HLA genes, Polymorphism, Autoimmune demyelinating disease, Genetic variants, CNS.