Lack of sunshine triggers 'faulty' MS gene A link between
vitamin D and a gene known to cause multiple sclerosis has been
identified, say researchers. The study in this week's PLoS
Genetics could explain one of the key environmental risk factors
for multiple sclerosis, also known as MS. The prevalence of MS
is higher in countries further away from the equator, which is
thought to be related to the amount of sunshine exposure and
vitamin D3 production. Neurologist Dr Bill Carroll from Perth's
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital says this study is the first to
link the environmental and genetic risk factors that cause MS.
"What they've been able to do with this study is show that
vitamin D3 is closely related to the part of the genetics of the
immune system that we think is most closely related to
susceptibility to MS," says Carroll, who is also chair of
Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia's research management
council. The researchers focused on a gene known as HLA-DRB1,
which is part of a family of genes that mak