Infectious mononucleosis-linked HLA class i single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with multiple sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a presumed autoimmune disease associated with genetic and environmental risk factors such as infectious mononucleosis. Recent research has shown infectious mononucleosis to be associated with a specific HLA class I polymorphism. Objectives: Our aim was to test if the infectious mononucleosis-linked HLA class I single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6457110) is also associated with multiple sclerosis. Methods: Genotyping of the HLA-A single nucleotide polymorphism rs6457110 using TaqMan was performed in 591 multiple sclerosis cases and 600 controls. The association of multiple sclerosis with the HLA-A single nucleotide polymorphism was tested using logistic regression adjusted for age, sex and HLA-DRB1*1501. Results: HLA-A minor allele (A) is associated with multiple sclerosis (OR = 0.68; p = 4.08 × 10^-5). After stratification for HLA-DRB1*1501 risk allele (T) carrier we showed a significant OR of 0.70 (p = 0.003) for HLA-A. Conclusions: HLA class I single nucleotide polymorphism rs6457110 is associated with infectious mononucleosis and multiple sclerosis, independent of the major class II allele, supporting the hypothesis that shared genetics may contribute to the association between infectious mononucleosis and multiple sclerosis.