Professor Alastair Compston, Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge spoke about the factors involved in people’s risk, or susceptibility, to developing MS. Genetic analyses, observations in migrant populations and age related studies of infectious disease suggest a combination of genes, environmental triggers and cultural factors all play a role in determining the distribution and individual risk of developing MS.

Prof Compston’s work has involved discovering candidate genes which might be involved in MS. HLA genes control the immune system’s ability to recognise and differentiate between foreign invading cells and the body’s own cells. One particular version of the HLA genes has been linked with risk of developing MS, however new technologies are allowing discovery of further associations with other genes whose function suggests a role in inflammation and immune responses in MS development.

Prof Compston also spoke of Neuromyelitus optica (NMO) an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that most commonly targets the optic nerves and spinal cord selectively. Until recently, the most common demyelinating diseases experienced by non-Europeans was NMO, however over the last few decades that pattern has altered and cases of MS, or conditions which seem to lie between the two, are becoming more common in line with increasing industrialisation in these countries. This suggests that MS may originate from NMO-like diseases over many years due to genetic change in response to new environmental triggers.

Frontiers 2007 video