MGAT5 and disease severity in progressive multiple sclerosis

MGAT5 was demonstrated to be associated to multiple sclerosis (MS) severity. We evaluated its role in progressive MS. We studied 11 SNPs mapping to MGAT5 in an Italian cohort of primary progressive or progressive-relapsing patients. The rs1257169(G) allele is associated with lower disease severity (p-value = 0.02). Adding the age of onset as covariate, another SNP, rs539588, is nominally significant. None of the SNPs survived after multiple testing correction. These results, even if suggestive of MGAT5 involvement also in progressive MS severity, require a bigger sample size to confirm and better explore the role of this locus in this rare disease course. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.