Premium
Autoimmune diseases in families of French patients with multiple sclerosis
Author(s) -
Heinzlef O.,
Alamowitch S.,
Sazdovitch V.,
Chillet P.,
Joutel A.,
TournierLasserve E.,
Roullet E.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0404.2000.101001036.x
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , medicine , first degree relatives , vitiligo , rheumatoid arthritis , diabetes mellitus , disease , family history , immunology , endocrinology
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with autoimmune disorders (AIDs) in individual patients, and limited data suggest a possible familial association of MS and AIDs; however, no systematic study has been conducted on the occurrence of AIDs in the families of MS patients. Using a standardized interview focused on AIDs, we obtained the family histories of 357 consecutive patients from our MS clinic. Adequate information was obtained on 1971 first‐degree relatives. Fifty‐five patients (15.4%) had first‐degree relatives with MS ( n =22, 6.2%), another AID ( n =30, 8.4%), or both ( n =3, 0.8%). In 16 families (4.5%), at least 3 first‐degree relatives had MS or another AID. MS, Grave's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo, type 1 insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus, and uveitis, were the most common AIDs in these families. Such multiplex families (families with MS plus AID) are appropriate for identifying susceptibility genes that may be common to MS and other AIDs.