No association of vitamin D-binding protein gene polymorphisms in Japanese patients with MS

Vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) is known to function as an immunomodulatory factor, as well as the main carrier of vitamin D. We analyzed the frequencies of two polymorphisms (codon 416 and codon 420) in the DBP gene through a case-control study involving 107 Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 109 healthy controls. None of these polymorphisms showed any association with the occurrence of MS. Furthermore, no association was observed between the DBP polymorphisms and the age at disease onset. These results suggest that DBP does not contribute to the development of MS in Japanese. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.