Abstract
Genetic factors are effective reagents in susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have shown the relationship between heat shock protein (HSP) gene polymorphisms. So, HSP70 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were evaluated as MS risk factors. Here, DNA genotyping was done for HSP70 gene polymorphisms, including HSP70-1 +190 G>C, HSP70-1 -110 A>C, HSP70-1 +438 A>C, and HSP70-hom +2437 A>G in two groups including Iranian MS patients and controls. A standard phenol/chloroform method isolated DNA samples from peripheral blood. Sequence-specific amplification (SSP) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for genotyping polymorphisms. Overall, 76 (35.80%) MS patients and 136 (65.10%) controls were studied with an age mean of 36.0 ± 8.0 years. Female/male was significantly higher in patients than in controls (4.43 vs. 0.10, P < 0.001). The average age was significantly lower in patients (P < 0.001). The most common clinical feature was relapsing-remitting (RR) MS; more than half of the population was Fars. Results showed that genotypes of HSP70-hom +2437 C>T had a significant relation with MS (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.0-5.0, P = 0.03) and the same applies to HSP70-1 -110 A>C (OR = 0.0, 95% CI = 0.0-1.0, P < 0.001). Allele and genotype frequency of two other HSP70 SNPs (HSP70-1 +190 G>C, HSP70-1 +438 A>C) showed no significant differences between patients and controls. HSP70-hom +2437 C>T and HSP70-1 -110 A>C can be considered as risk factors for MS in our population. However, other HSP SNPs should be studied in a larger population in the future.