Assessing interactions between HLA-DRB1*15 and infectious mononucleosis on the risk of multiple sclerosis

Giulio Disanto, Carolina Hall, Robyn Lucas, Anne Louise Ponsonby, Antonio J. Berlanga-Taylor, Gavin Giovannoni, Sreeram V. Ramagopalan*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Gene-environment interactions may shed light on the mechanisms underlying multiple sclerosis (MS). We pooled data from two case-control studies on incident demyelination and used different methods to assess interaction between HLA-DRB1*15 (DRB1-15) and history of infectious mononucleosis (IM). Individuals exposed to both factors were at substantially increased risk of disease (OR=7.32, 95% CI=4.92-10.90). In logistic regression models, DRB1-15 and IM status were independent predictors of disease while their interaction term was not (DRB1-15*IM: OR=1.35, 95% CI=0.79-2.23). However, interaction on an additive scale was evident (Synergy index=2.09, 95% CI=1.59-2.59; excess risk due to interaction=3.30, 95%CI=0.47-6.12; attributable proportion due to interaction=45%, 95% CI=22-68%). This suggests, if the additive model is appropriate, the DRB1-15 and IM may be involved in the same causal process leading to MS and highlights the benefit of reporting gene-environment interactions on both a multiplicative and additive scale.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1355-1358
    Number of pages4
    JournalMultiple Sclerosis Journal
    Volume19
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2013

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