Investigation of TGFB2 as a candidate gene in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Abstract:

Given the known roles of TGFbeta2 in both regulating the immune system and promoting the survival of dopaminergic neurons, it is feasible that genetic variations in TGFB2 might play an aetiological role in neurological diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Hence we performed an indirect association analysis of TGFB2 using 8 haplotype-tagging SNPs in a population of 937 MS patients, 538 PD cases and 2022 controls. We found no evidence for association with susceptibility or progression of MS, but have demonstrated a trend towards association of the 5' region of the gene with susceptibility to PD. Further analysis of TGFB2 is warranted in other PD cohorts.