VITAMIN D AND VITAMIN D RECEPTOR GENE VARIANT IN EGYPTIAN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

: Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease with a controversial etiology. Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to be involved in the risk of developing the disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of the Vitamin D receptor (VDR) BsmI variant with MS and to investigate the interaction of this variant with vitamin D levels. Method: 100 subjects were recruited for this study. Fifty patients were diagnosed with MS and 50 were healthy individuals. BsmI was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses in both groups and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were determined in MS patients by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: The distribution of the genotype of VDR polymorphism BsmI did not differ significantly between MS patients and healthy controls . The G allele of BsmI was a statistically significant higher percentage in MS patients ( p -value 0.045). There is no statistically significant difference in the level of 25(OH)D between MS patients and the control group. Conclusions: The study findings suggest that the VDR gene variant BsmI G allele may increase the risk of the development of MS.